fas: 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/firstduchessofneOOperrrich 


HARVARD  STUDIES  IN  ENGLISH 

VOLUME  IV 


THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

AND  HER  HUSBAND  AS  FIGURES 

IN  LITERARY  HISTORY 

BY 
HENRY  TEN  EYCK  PERRY 


THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

AND  HER  HUSBAND  AS  FIGURES 

IN  LITERARY  HISTORY 


BY 

HENRY  TEN  EYCK  PERRY,  Ph.D. 


BOSTON  AND  LONDON 

GINN  AND  COMPANY,  PUBLISHERS 

1918 


COPYRIGHT,  1918,  BY  GINN  AND  COMPANY 
ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


gfte  gitftenaeom  greg< 

GINN  AND  COMPANY  •  PRO- 
PRIETORS •  BOSTON  •  U.S.A. 


TO 

G.  V.  S. 


377815 


PREFACE 

This  book  was  first  written  as  a  doctor's  thesis  at  Harvard, 
and  it  stands  now  in  substantially  its  original  form.  Conse- 
quently I  must  make  acknowledgments  to  many  Cantabrigians 
who  assisted  me  at  various  times  in  my  efforts.  For  suggesting 
the  subject  credit  belongs  to  Dr.  James  B.  Munn,  whose  inti- 
mate acquaintance  with  the  works  of  Elia  gave  me  the  hint 
that  was  ultimately  developed  into  this  work.  While  still  in  the 
thesis  stage,  it  was  greatly  benefited  by  the  advice  of  Professor 
Kittredge  and  Dr.  Bernbaum ;  since  it  has  become  a  book 
Professor  Neilson  and  Dr.  Maynadier  have  united  to  improve 
it.  The  two  latter  have  read  the  entire  proof,  assisted  by 
Professor  Bliss  Perry,  under  whom  the  dissertation  was  written. 
To  all  these  gentlemen  I  owe  most  extended  and  hearty 
thanks,  but  especially  to  Professor  Perry  for  his  tireless  inter- 
est and  sympathetic  criticism,  which  have  continued  from  the 
very  beginning  of  my  task  to  its  present  completion. 

The  chief  difficulty  thrown  in  my  way  was  that  several  of 
the  Duchess's  volumes  exist  in  only  one  copy  on  this  side 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  discovering  them  has  not  always  been 
an  easy  task.  The  search  was  profitable,  however,  and  I  wish 
here  to  express  my  gratitude  to  all  those  who  had  any  share 
in  it.  Most  of  all  I  am  indebted  to  Mr.  Henry  E.  Huntington 
of  New  York  City  for  permitting  me  to  use  his  extraordi- 
narily fine  library.  His  collection  of  Margaret  Cavendish's 
works,  besides  supplying  several  useful  details,  furnished 
me  with  the  only  available  copies  of  The  World's  Olio  and 
Natures  Picture  Drawn  by  Fancies  Pencil,    Mr.  Huntington's 


viii  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

librarian,  Mr.  George  Watson  Cole,  showed  me  unfailing  con- 
sideration during  my  research,  and  Mr.  George  D.  Smith  of 
New  York  made  possible  this  entire  opportunity.  A  chance 
to  examine  the  CCXI  Sociable  Letters  I  owe  to  the  efficiency 
of  the  Arthur  H.  Clark  Company  of  Cleveland  and  to  the 
good  services  of  Mr.  John  B.  Dempsey  of  that  city. 

For  various  and  sundry  other  favors  in  connection  with  pre- 
paring this  study  I  am  under  obligations  to  Dr.  John  J.  Parry, 
to  Mr.  Andrew  Keogh,  Librarian  of  Yale,  to  Mr.  Richard  W. 
Goulding,  Librarian  at  Welbeck  Abbey  in  Nottinghamshire, 

and  to  Mr.  George  van  Santvoord. 

H.  T.  E.  P. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION i 

CHAPTER  I.    THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE    .      .  5 

I.  "The  First  Book"  (i 593-1 644) 5 

II.  "The  Second  Book"  (i 644-1 667) 44 

III.  "The  Third  and  Fourth  Books"  (i 667-1676)     .  68 

CHAPTER  II.    "OUR  ENGLISH   M^CENAS" 85 

I.  Early  Patronage  (1617-1636) 85 

II.  Patronage  in  Prosperity  (i 636-1 644)  .     .     .     .  100 

III.  Patronage  in  Exile  (i 644-1 660) 122 

IV.  Patronage  after  the  Restoration  ( 1 660-- 1676)  .  145 

CHAPTER  III.    THE  MINOR  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  171 

I.  Poems  AND  Pseudo-Science  (1653-1668)      .     .     .  171 
II.   Tne  World^s  Olio  (1655)  and  Nature^ s  Pic- 
tures (1656) 198 

III.  Plays  AND  Orations  (i 662-1 668) 213 

IV.  CCXI  Sociable  Letters  (1664)  and  The  Blaz- 

ing World  (1666) 237 

CHAPTER  IV.    THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF 265 

I.  Margaret  Lucas  (1623-1645) 265 

II.  The  Marchioness  of  Newcastle  (i 645-1 664)      .  283 

III.  The  Duchess  of  Newcastle  (i 664-1 673)    .     .     .  293 

CONCLUSION 314 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 317 

INDEX 327 

ix 


THE   FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

AND  HER  HUSBAND  AS  FIGURES 

IN  LITERARY  HISTORY 

INTRODUCTION 

Students  of  English  literature  know  of  Margaret  Cavendish, 
first  Duchess  of  Newcastle  —  if  they  know  of  her  at  all  —  as 
"  a  dear  friend  "  of  Charles  Lamb's,  frequently  mentioned  in 
the  Essays  of  Elia.  As  we  all  love  Lamb  for  himself,  it  is  not 
unnatural  that  any  person  for  whom  he  expresses  admiration 
should  be  of  some  general  interest,  and  the  more  one  comes 
to  learn  of  his  *'  dear  friend's  "  character  and  peculiarities,  the 
more  fascinating  a  study  she  proves  to  be.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  Margaret  Cavendish  is  an  unusual  and  engaging 
personality,  whatever  one  may  think  of  her  as  an  authoress. 
Her  thirteen  volumes  are  various  and  varied,  in  subject  matter 
as  well  as  in  artistic  excellence ;  she  is  at  times  stimulating 
and  readable,  more  often,  it  must  be  admitted,  verbose  and 
tiresome.  The  worst  feature  of  her  work  is  its  length,  which 
proves  discouraging  to  the  uninitiated  and  exasperating  to  those 
who  do  peruse  her  books.  Among  the  Duchess's  many  words, 
however,  there  may  be  discovered  upon  occasion  much  valuable 
and  delightful  matter. 

Her  most  famous  and  important  single  work  is  the  Life  of 
William  Cavendiske,  which  purports  to  be  a  historical  biog- 
raphy of  her  husband  and  from  one  point  of  view  lives  up 
to  this  claim.  As  such,  it  has  been  frequently  reprinted  and 
edited,  and  in  1906  Professor  C.  H.  Firth  of  Oxford  published 


'2V  THE  FIK3T  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

the  definitive  edition.  Professor  Firth's  wide  reading  and  vast 
knowledge  in  the  Civil  War  period  have  enabled  him  to 
assemble  many  remote  passages  to  illuminate  the  Duchess's 
work,  so  that  little  now  remains  to  be  done  for  the  Life  by 
historians.  It  is  possible,  however,  to  look  at  the  biography 
more  as  literature  than  history,  which  is  the  attitude  assumed 
in  Chapter  I  of  this  book.  So  regarded,  it  appears  to  be  an 
early  species  of  ''  glory-story,"  in  which  the  truth  is  so  colored 
as  to  distort  authentic  facts,  and  hence  it  is  perhaps  not  unjusti- 
fiable to  class  the  work  as  an  embryonic  novel.  Its  authoress 
herself,  no  doubt,  would  have  been  profoundly  outraged  at  such 
an  idea,  but  in  any  case  her  book  is  literature  and  all  discus- 
sion of  Margaret  Cavendish  must  inevitably  have  its  beginning 
with  this  biography. 

When  one  does  begin  to  discuss  the  Life,  he  finds  his  inter- 
est not  wholly  devoted  to  the  Duchess ;  it  is  also  decidedly  in- 
trigued by  the  protagonist,  Newcastle  himself.  He  becomes  to 
the  reader  more  than  a  mere  puppet  or  figurehead  ;  he  proves  to 
be  a  very  real  flesh-and-blood  man,  a  fine  example  of  the  Stuart 
aristocrat,  the  English  Cavalier.  Apart  from  the  Life,  Cavendish 
is  interesting  from  a  literary  point  of  view.  He  too  was  an 
author;  he  wrote  proclamations,  treatises  filled  with  political 
advice,  books  on  horsemanship,  and  plays.  He  was  also  a 
patron  of  letters,  as  is  shown  by  his  literary  productions ;  three 
of  the  five  plays  in  which  the  Duke  had  a  share  were  largely 
written  by  his  proteges,  so  that  his  position  as  a  writer  is  in- 
extricably entangled  with  his  position  as  Maecenas.  Chapter  II 
attempts  to  cover  both  these  subjects,  and  if  some  confusion 
results,  it  is  because  of  the  difficulty  inherent  in  this  web  of 
cross-relationships.  At  all  events  Newcastle  appreciated  art 
and,  though  he  only  dabbled  in  it,  he  has  a  distinct  position  as 
patron  and  author  —  not  to  mention  the  fact  that  he  furnished 
his  wife  with  the  material  from  which  she  built  her  masterpiece. 


INTRODUCTION  3 

The  Duchess's  works  all  have  a  place  in  literature  apart 
from  their  intrinsic  value,  for  Margaret  Cavendish  was  one  of 
the  first  Englishwomen  to  attain  recognition  as  a  writer.  This 
in  itself  is  no  small  claim  to  fame  and  is  a  sufficient  reason 
for  discussing  her  lesser  books,  which  is  done  in  Chapter  III. 
As  has  been  said,  however,  these  volumes  are  for  the  most 
part  extremely  tedious,  and  because  of  this  quality,  coupled  with 
their  scarcity,  they  are  little  known  to-day.  Nevertheless,  delv- 
ing in  them  has  its  compensations,  for  it  is  of  absorbing  interest 
to  see  how  one  woman  began  written  composition  and  how 
she  continued  it.  Her  works  have  no  sources  but  her  own 
imagination,  and  their  influence  is  too  nebulous  to  compute. 
Still  the  Duchess  did  write  at  a  time  when  women  were  just 
entering  the  field  of  literature.  Her  enterprise  may  have  en- 
couraged more  talented  authoresses,  and  if  her  results  are  not 
tangible,  that  is  no  cause  for  denying  them ;  tradition  often 
works  more  subtly  than  the  eye  of  science  can  perceive. 

The  chief  pleasure  in  perusing  Margaret  Cavendish's  writ- 
ings (both  the  Life  and  the  minor  works)  is  in  seeing  what 
light  they  cast  upon  the  character  of  their  author.  What  sort 
of  person  was  this  woman  of  whom  Charles  Lamb  thought 
so  highly,  but  who  was  so  ridiculed  by  Horace  Walpole  and 
Sir  Walter  Scott  t  Whence  grew  the  Newcastle  legend  t  The 
answer  is  to  be  found  largely  in  the  Duchess's  own  books, 
most  of  all  in  her  True  Relation  of  my  Birth,  Breeding  and 
Life,  where  she  recounts  her  life  from  the  quiet  home  circle 
of  the  Lucas  family  through  her  probation  as  maid  of  honor 
to  Henrietta  Maria,  until  she  at  last  found  a  safe  harbor  in 
her  husband's  arms.  Here  the  truth  may  easily  be  reached 
and  the  Duchess's  famous  peculiarities  may  be  analyzed  and 
explained.  Exaggeration  and  myth  set  aside,  Margaret  Lucas's 
heredity  and  environment  account  for  even  the  most  surprising 
occurrences  of  her  life.    When  her  history  is  considered  step 


4  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

by  step  and  its  gradual  growth  is  minutely  observed,  each 
specific  act  seems  the  inevitable  outcome  of  all  that  has  pre- 
ceded it.  The  Duchess  emerges  from  the  test  a  fallible  mortal 
like  the  rest  of  us,  only  a  trifle  more  warped  and  lopsided 
than  modern  psychology  tells  us  that  we  all  are.  In  Chapter  IV 
the  course  of  her  development  has  been  traced  in  an  effort 
to  rationalize  the  eccentric  figure  which  tradition  has  built  up, 
and  to  substitute  for  it  a  more  human  personage,  whom  we 
may  come  to  love  and  understand. 

This  book,  then,  is  a  sketch  of  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle 
first,  and  only  secondarily  of  her  husband  ;  the  Duke's  life  must 
be  included  in  any  account  of  his  wife's  career,  and  no  literary 
study  could  ignore  his  accomplishments  in  authorship  and 
the  encouragement  of  authorship.  Yet,  just  because  this  is 
a  literary  study,  Margaret  Cavendish  must  necessarily  have  a 
more  prominent  place  in  it  than  her  lord,  her  right  to  future 
reputation  resting,  as  it  does  fundamentally,  upon  the  impor- 
tance of  her  books.  Even  her  strange  personality  depends 
upon  her  life  as  an  authoress,  and  the  notoriety  which  she  has 
achieved  has  been  gained  in  works  of  art,  not  in  chronicles 
of  fact.  It  is  the  imaginative  mind  which  is  fascinated  by  the 
Duchess's  inconsistencies,  just  as  the  Duke  appeals  to  the 
more  practical  historians.  Both  interests  have  their  place,  and 
it  would  be  the  part  of  rashness  to  rate  either  above  the  other. 
Up  to  this  time  Newcastle  has  been  treated  merely  with  a 
cold  regard  to  facts ;  his  wife  has  been  lauded  or  condemned 
with  a  total  lack  of  reasonable  moderation.  The  present  book 
is  an  effort  to  consider  their  artistic  significance  sanely  and 
without  bias. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE 

I 

"THE  FIRST  BOOK"  (1593-1644) 

If  William  and  Margaret  Cavendish,  first  Duke  and  Duchess 
of  Newcastle,  deserve  any  place  in  the  history  of  literature, 
their  first  claim  rests  on  the  wife's  biography  of  her  husband. 
The  Life  of  the  Thrice  Noble,  High  and  Puissant  Prince, 
William  Cavendishe,  Duke,  Marquess  and  Earl  of  Newcastle, 
Written  by  the  thrice  Noble,  Illustrious  and  Excellent  Princess, 
Margaret,  Duchess  of  Newcastle,  His  Wife  was  printed  in 
London  by  A.  Maxwell  in  1667.  The  following  year  appeared 
a  Latin  translation  by  Walter  Charleton,  later  to  be  known  as 
President  of  the  College  of  Physicians ;  and  a  second  English 
edition  in  1675  bears  witness  to  the  volume's  immediate 
popularity.  That  it  has  maintained  an  audience  to  our  own 
day  is  shown  by  frequent  reprintings,  the  last  and  best-edited  by 
C.  H.  Firth  (1906).^  Indeed,  it  has  always  been  regarded  by 
historians  as  the  chief  document  relating  to  Newcastle's  by  no 
means  insignificant  part  in  the  Civil  War.  It  was  written,  too, 
in  a  period  when  fictitious  material  was  beginning  to  masquer- 
ade as  veracious  record,  and  it  may  therefore  be  considered  as  a 
literary  product  as  well  as  an  authentic  history.    With  whatever 

1  The  other  modern  reprints  are:  1872,  ed.  M.  A.  Lower;  1886,  ed.  C.  H. 
Firth;  1903,  Tlie  Cavalier  in  Exile,  Newnes'  Pocket  Classics.  An  edition  in 
Everyman's  Library  (No.  722)  came  out  in  November,  191 5.  Hazlitt's  Hand- 
book to  the  Popular,  Poetical  and  Dramatic  Literature  of  Great  Britain,  1867, 
p.  416,  says,  "  His  life  was  also  written  by  W.  Pomfret,"  but  I  can  find  no 
further  trace  of  such  a  work. 


6  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEV/CASTLE 

genre  we  choose  to  classify  it,  however,  critical  opinions  have,  for 
the  most  part,  been  extremely  favorable  to  this  work.  A  single 
dissenting  note  is  struck  the  very  year  following  its  publication, 
by  Samuel  Pepys  on  March  i8,  1667- 1668  :  "  Stayed  at  home, 
reading  the  ridiculous  History  of  my  Lord  Newcastle,  wrote 
by  his  wife,  which  shews  her  to  be  a  mad,  conceited,  ridiculous 
woman,  and  he  an  asse  to  suffer  her  to  write  what  she  writes 
to  him  and  of  him."  But  the  diarist  had  already  made  up  his 
mind  about  the  Duchess  on  extraneous  evidence,  nor  is  he  to 
be  trusted  implicitly  as  a  critic  of  literary  matters.  Even  the 
unfriendly  Horace  Walpole  admits  that  it  is  "  amusing  to  hear 
her  sometimes  compare  her  lord  to  Julius  Caesar,  and  oftener 
to  acquaint  you  with  such  anecdotes,  as  in  what  sort  of  coach 
he  went  to  Amsterdam."  ^ 

Yet  at  the  other  end  of  the  scale  is  to  be  found  the  most 
extravagant  adulation.  Perhaps  the  authoress's  rank  had  its 
share  in  producing  such  a  letter  as  that  addressed  to  her  by 
the  University  of  Cambridge,  in  which  it  is  asserted  that 
''hereafter,  if  generous  and  highborn  men  shall  search  our 
library  for  a  model  of  a  most  accomplished  general,  they 
shall  find  it  expressed  to  the  life,  not  in  Xenophon's  Cyrus, 
but  in  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle's  William."  ^  Again  in  1691, 
after  the  death  of  both  Duke  and  Duchess  had  removed  any 
such  artificial  stimulus,  Gerard  Langbaine  in  his  Account  of 
the  English  Dramatick  Poets  refers  his  readers  to  the  life 
of  the  Duke,  ''already  writ  in  Latin  and  English,  by  the 
Hand  of  his  Incomparable  Dutchess;  who  during  his  Life- 
time, describ'd  all  his  Glorious  Actions,  in  a  stile  so  Noble  and 
Masculine,  that  she  seems  to  have  antedated  his  Apotheosis."  ^ 
And  much  nearer  our  own  day  the  gentle  Elia  held  that  "no 

1  A  Catalogue  of  Royal  and  Noble  Authors,  ed.  Park,  1806,  III,  189-190. 

2  Letters  and  Poems  in  Honour  of  the  Incomparable  Princess^  Margaret^ 
Dutchess  of  Newcastle,  1676.  *  P.  386. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  7 

casket  is  rich  enough,  no  casing  sufficiently  durable,  to  honor 
and  keep  safe  such  a  jewel."  ^  The  consensus  of  opinion  has 
evidently  approved  this  biography.  Wherein  lie  the  causes  of 
its  popularity  and  its  real  value  ? 

The  First  Book  deals  with  William  Cavendish's  history  up 
to  his  flight  from  England  after  Marston  Moor,  the  material 
being  derived  at  first  hand  from  the  Duke  himself  or,  even 
more  often,  from  his  secretary,  John  Rolleston.^  The  authoress 
spares  us  a  long  account  of  her  hero's  pedigree  and  is  content 
with  furnishing  a  background  for  his  birth  and  upbringing : 
his  father  was  Sir  Charles  Cavendish,  youngest  son  to  Sir 
William  of  the  same  name ;  his  mother  Catharine,  the  second 
daughter  of  Cuthbert,  Lord  Ogle.  By  the  death  of  an  older 
brother  in  infancy,  he  was  left  heir  to  the  family  title  and 
estate.  The  Duchess  with  a  self-confessed  ^  neglect  of  dates 
does  not  state  the  year  of  her  Lord's  birth,  but  Cokayne's 
Complete  Peerage  says  that  he  was  baptized  on  December  16, 
1593,  at  Handsworth,  and  Anthony  a  Wood  confirms  it.* 
In  a  letter  to  Secretary  Nicholas  from  Antwerp,  April  2,  1659, 
Cavendish  himself  v^nrites,  "  For  age  I  am  in  less  than  a  year 
of  you,"^  and  as  Nicholas  was  bom  on  April  4,  1593,  the 
passage  is  added  proof  for  a  later  date  in  that  year.  All  this 
evidence  is  needed,  for  Collins  in  his  Historical  Collections^ 
put  it  as  1592,  which  the  usually  reliable  Firth  accepts,  perhaps 
misunderstanding  *'  aetatis  suae  84 "  on  Newcastle's  tomb. 
This  same  error  is  repeated  in  the  Dictionary  of  National 

1  "  Detached  Thoughts  on  Books  and  Reading  "  in  Essays  of  Elia,  Boston, 
i860,  p.  275. 

2  "  To  his  Grace,  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,"  dedication  to  the  Life  of  William 
Cavendish y  ed.  Firth,  1906,  p.  xxv. 

*  "  The  Preface,"  Firth,  p.  xlv.  The  dates  given  throughout  are  from  other 
sources. 

*  The  article  on  Walter  Charleton  in  Athence  Oxonienses,  Vol.  IV,  Col.  756. 

*  Egerton  Mss.,  536,  f.  336,  in  Firth,  p.  207. 

*  London,  1752,  p.  25. 


a  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Biography y  whence  it  has  become  generally  prevalent,  —  but 
it  is  an  error  none  the  less. 

William  and  his  younger  brother  Charles  spent  much  of 
their  boyhood  with  their  aunt,  Mary,  Countess  of  Shrewsbury, ^ 
and  her  husband,  the  Earl  Gilbert.  This  Gilbert  was  not  only 
Sir  Charles  Cavendish's  brother-in-law  twice  over^  but  his 
closest  and  most  intimate  friend,  for  they  had  been  brought 
up  together  in  the  same  family,  because  of  the  marriage  of 
Sir  William  Cavendish's  widow  with  George  Talbot,  Gilbert's 
father.  In  connection  with  this  uncle  and  aunt  we  first  hear 
definitely  of  our  William  Cavendish,  by  a  letter  from  him  to 
his  father,  written  sometime  in  1604,  when  he  could  not  have 
been  more  than  eleven  years  old.  In  that  year  Prince  Charles, 
afterwards  Charles  I,  then  a  child  of  three  or  four,  journeyed 
from  Scotland  to  London  and  on  the  way  was  entertained  at 
Worksop,  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury's  home.  It  was  perhaps 
because  of  this  royal  guest's  tender  age  that  Shrewsbury 
deputed  the  actual  reception  to  his  young  nephews,  but  at  all 
events  he  did  so,  as  is  shown  by  the  following  letter,  composed 
in  by  no  means  contemptible  French :  ^ 

Monsieur  &  Pere  Jay  pence  que  cestoit  mon  debuoir  de  vous 
escrire  par  ce  presant  porteur  quel  Honnorable  entxetsnement  Mon- 
seigneur  le  Due  et  sa  compaignee  ont  receu  a  Worsop  &  comme  mon 
frere  &  moy  auons  Receu  beaucoup  d'honneur  nous  gouuernant  si 
bien  que  ses  messieurs  les  escossois  s'en  estonnoient,  principallement 
en  la  langue  frangoise  en  laquelle  Monsieur  le  Presidant,  son  gouuer- 
neur  est  perfect,  comme  aussi  plussieurs  gentilshommes  de  sa  suite 

1  Cavendish  afterwards  gave  a  portrait  of  this  lady  to  St.  John's  College, 
Cambridge,  of  which  she  was  the  "second  Found'ress."  See  the  letter  of 
acknowledgment  in  Letters  and  Poems  in  Honour  of  the  Incomparable  Prin- 
cess, Margaret,  Dutchess  of  Newcastle,  1676. 

2  Henry  Cavendish,  his  eldest  brother,  married  Grace  Talbot,  Gilbert's  sister. 
*  An  English  translation  of  this  appears  in  the  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  118  {Hist. 

Mss.  Comm.,  is  Pep.,  App.,  Part  II),  but  I  am  indebted  for  the  French  original 
to  Mr.  R.  W.  Goulding,  Librarian  at  Welbeck  Abbey. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  9 

auec  les  quelz  nous  auons  eu  beaucoup  de  conferance,  Je  feray  fin 
pour  vous  suplier,  de  vous  en  informer  dauantaige  semblablement  pour 
baiser  tres-humblement  les  mains  de  Monseigneur  mon  oncle,  &  de 
Madame  matante,  au  quelz  Je  rends  graces  de  Lhonneur  quilz  me 
font  de  mestimer  capable  dentretenir  tel  prince  et  en  ceste  veryte 

■'^  ^  Vfe  tres  humble  &  tres-obeissant 

filz  Guillaume  Cauendysshe 
(Addressed :  — ) 

A  Monsieur  &  Pere 

Monsieur  Cauendysshe. 

It  may  be  seen  that  the  boy's  education  began  early,  both  as 
to  specific  knowledge  and,  what  is  of  greater  importance,  as  to 
how  to  use  it.  The  future  court  politician  was  in  training 
even  from  his  cradle. 

In  two  homes,  then,  the  future  Duke  of  Newcastle  was 
reared  and  in  each  he  was  shown  unbounded  affection.  On 
the  whole,  life  seems  to  have  been  made  too  easy  for  him ; 
when  he  was  sent  to  St.  John's  College  at  Cambridge,  his 
tutors  *' could  not  persuade  him  to  read  or  study  much,  he 
taking  more  delight  in  sport  than  in  learning;  so  that  his 
father  being  a  wise  man  and  seeing  that  his  son  had  a  good 
natural  wit,  and  was  of  a  very  good  disposition,  suffer'd  him 
to  follow  his  own  genius.  .  .  .  One  time  it  happened  that  a 
young  gentleman,  one  of  my  Lord's  relations,  had  bought  some 
land,  at  the  same  time  when  my  Lord  had  bought  a  singing- 
boy  for  ;£5o,  a  horse  for  ;£50,  and  a  dog  for  £,2,  which 
humour  his  father  Sir  Charles  liked  so  well,  that  he  was 
pleased  to  say.  That  if  he  should  find  his  son  to  be  so  covetous, 
that  he  would  buy  land  before  he  was  twenty  years  of  age,  he 
would  disinherit  him.  But  above  all  the  rest,  my  Lord  had  a 
great  inclination  to  the  art  of  horsemanship  and  weapons,  in 
which  later  his  father  Sir  Charles,  being  a  most  ingenious 
and  unparalleled  master  of  that  age,  was  his  only  tutor,  and 
kept  him  also  several  masters  in  the  art  of  horsemanship  and 


lO  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

sent  him  to  the  Mews  to  Mons.  Antoine,  who  was  then 
accounted  the  best  master  in  that  art."  ^  Such  an  education 
was  deHghtful  enough,  no  doubt,  and  eminently  suited  to 
produce  a  fine  gentleman  of  the  time,  but  it  must,  also,  have 
encouraged  expensive  tastes,  ill  fitting  the  youth  to  encounter 
those  difficulties  which  were  to  beset  his  path  in  later  life. 

This  Cavalier  training  came  to  a  climax  in  1610,  for  young 
Cavendish  was  made  a  Knight  of  the  Bath  when  James  I's 
oldest  son  was  created  Prince  of  Wales.  Two  years  after  this 
honor  he  went  to  travel  abroad  with  Sir  Heniy  Wotton,  Am- 
bassador Extraordinary  to  the  Duke  of  Savoy,  and  ''  the  honest 
man  sent  abroad  to  lie  for  the  good  of  his  country  "  evidently 
took  Cavendish  into  high  favor.  On  March  28  he  writes  from 
Amiens  of  "Sir  William  Candishe,  son  and  heir  to  Sir  Charles 
his  father,  and  by  his  mother  heir  to  the  Barony  of  Ogle,  a 
young  gentleman  very  nobly  bred,  and  of  singular  expecta- 
tion." 2  And  at  Liineburg  on  May  9,  "  From  Bologne  to 
Lyons  I  spent  just  three  weeks,  staying  in  no  place  longer 
than  was  meet  for  some  care  of  our  horses,  save  only  at  Troyes, 
where  I  rested  a  day  and  a  half  upon  a  little  indisposition 
<which>  William  Candish  had  contracted,  first  by  the  extre<me 
of  cold)  and  wind,  and  then  of  heats,  being  loath  to  leave 
<behind>  so  sweet  an  ornament  of  my  journey,  and  a  gentle- 
man himself  of  so  excellent  nature  and  institution."^  The 
Duke  of  Savoy  also  conceived  a  fancy  for  the  lad,  and  having 
urged  him  in  vain  to  stay  after  the  Ambassador's  return, 
presented  him  on  his  departure  with  a  Spanish  horse,  a  richly 
embroidered  saddle,  and  a  rich  jewel  of  diamonds.  Within  the 
twelvemonth^  our  travellers  were  back  in  London,  where  for  the 
next  few  years  Cavendish  lived,  attending  at  court.    In  16 16 

1  Book  III,  Section  8,  Firth,  pp.  104-105. 

2  Sir  Henry  Wotton's  Life  and  Letters,  by  Logan  Pearsall  Smith,  II,  2. 
8  Ibid.,  II,  4.  *  Ibid.,  I,  123. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  II 

the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  died  and  left  his  nephew  his  executor ; 
nor  did  Sir  Charles  Cavendish  long  outlive  his  friend,  as  he 
was  buried  within  the  year.  The  widowed  Lady  Cavendish 
wished  her  eldest  son  to  marry,  whereupon  he  satisfied  both 
himself  and  her  by  his  choice  of  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  heir 
to  William  Basset,  Esq.,  of  Blore  in  the  county  of  Stafford, 
and  widow  of  Henry  Howard,  third  son  of  the  Earl  of  Suffolk. 
This  lady,  of  whom  little  is  known,  seems  to  have  led  a  very 
troubled  life  until  her  death  in  1643.  We  find  occasional 
allusions  to  her  ill  health  and  once  an  extensive  list  of  reme- 
dies to  ease  her  labor  in  childbirth ;  ^  the  fact  that  she  was  the 
mother  of  ten  children,  five  of  whom  died  in  infancy,  may  ex- 
plain this,  and  indeed  she  seems  to  have  been  a  poor  harmless 
drudge,  destined  to  be  worn  out  by  the  highest  function  of 
woman.  After  their  marriage  in  16 18,  they  went  to  live  at 
Welbeck  in  Nottinghamshire,  only  coming  up  to  town  occasion- 
ally that  they  might  wait  upon  the  king.  On  August  10,  16 19, 
James  stayed  with  them  in  the  country  during  a  royal  progress.^ 
We  have  now  come  to  Cavendish's  first  advancement,  and 
here  it  is  necessary  to  distinguish  carefully  between  what  the 
Duchess  states  and  what  recent  investigations  have  revealed  to 
be  the  facts.    Says  our  chronicler : 

About  this  time  King  James,  of  blessed  memory,  having  a  purpose  to 
confer  some  honour  upon  my  Lord,  made  him  Viscount  Mansfield,  and 
Baron  of  Bolsover ;  *  and  after  the  decease  of  King  James,  King  Charles 
the  First,  of  blessed  memory,  constituted  him  Lord  Warden  of  the  Forest 
of  Sherwood  and  Lieutenant  of  Nottinghamshire,  and  restored  his  mother, 
Catharine,  the  second  daughter  of  Cuthbert,  Lord  Ogle,  to  her  father's 
dignity,  after  the  death  of  her  only  sister  Jane,  Countess  of  Shrewsbury, 
publicly  declaring  that  it  was  her  right ;  which  tide,  after  the  death  of 
his  mother,  descended  also  upon  my  Lord,  and  his  heirs  general,  together 
with  a  large  inheritance  of  ;^30oo  a  year  in  Northumberland. 

^  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  120-123. 

*  Nichols's  Progresses  0/  King  fames  /,  III,  559-560. 

*  An  estate  in  Derbyshire  not  far  from  Cavendish's  home  at  Welbeck. 


12  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

But  Cavendish  was  not  made  Baron  of  Bolsover  in  the  1620  patent 
creating  him  Viscount  Mansfield,  that  honor  coming  with  the 
title  of  Newcastle  eight  years  later.  Shortly  after,  on  December  4, 
1628,  the  Barony  of  Ogle  was  revived  in  favor  of  his  mother 
(Lady  Jane  Ogle,  her  sister  and  joint  heir,  had  died  several 
years  before),  and  on  her  death  in  1629  it  descended  to  her 
heirs  general .^  This  shows  why  Newcastle  chose  to  have  his 
new  Barony  of  Bolsover  created  by  the  royal  patent,  and  how 
he  comes  to  be  styled  Baron  of  Ogle  in  right  of  his  mother ; 
for  it  seems  that  he  waived  all  right  to  the  latter  Barony  by  his 
first  creation,  that  he  might  take  it  by  descent  as  an  old  Barony 
in  fee,  together  with  the  family  estate  of  Ogle.^  The  title.  Baron 
Ogle  of  Bothal,  which  has  sometimes  figured  in  connection 
with  that  of  Viscount  Mansfield,  does  not  seem  to  rest  on  a 
sufficiently  secure  basis,  but  may  be  due  to  a  confusion  of  two 
later  baronies.^  There  is  a  tail  to  the  Viscount  kite  however. 
Witness  a  state  letter  from  John  Woodford  to  Sir  Francis 
Nethersole  on  November  7,  1620:^ 

The  parliament  is  now  resolved  ...  for  the  accomodating  of  your 
disputes  between  the  heyrs  of  the  late  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  and  Sir 
William  Cavendish,  a  nephew  of  the  Earl  of  Devonshire  who  hath 
been  intitled  to  some  of  those  lands  by  the  Countess  of  Shrewsbury, 

^  Collins's  Historical  Collections^  p.  24,  and  Welbeck  Mss.^  II,  120. 

^  Biographia  Britannica,  article  on  W^illiam  Cavendish. 

8  Cokayne's  Complete  Peerage,  VI,  22,  note  a,  says:  "The  creation  of  this 
Barony  is  given  in  '  Courthope,'  and  almost  all  other  peerage  writers  [including 
Banks's  Dormant  and  Exti7ict  Baronage  of  England,  III,  547]  but  the  Viscounty 
of  Mansfield  is  given  (as  the  sole  creation)  in  the  'Creations  1483-1646'  in 
the  ap.  47th  Rep.  D.  K.  Pub.  [p.  105].  Neither  is  the  Barony  mentioned  in 
his  M[onumental]  inscription],  where  all  his  titles  seem  fully  set  out."  Collins 
also  gives  the  "  Ogle  of  Bothal"  title,  p.  25. 

*  State  Papers  {Foreign:  Germany,  States),  XIX,  189,  in  T%e  First  Duke  and 
Duchess  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  1910,  p.  12.  The  author's  name  is  not  given  on 
the  title-page,  but  this  book  is  by  T.  Longueville.  It  is  a  comprehensive  but 
unscholarly  memoir  and  the  only  secondary  work  of  which  the  entire  bulk  is 
devoted  to  William  and  Margaret  Cavendish. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  13 

prisoner  in  the  tower,  as  an  expedient  to  create  the  said  Sir  William, 
at  the  request  of  the  heyres  above  mentioned,  Viscount  of  Mansfield, 
which  is  newly  done  by  patent. 

As  a  pendant  to  this  bargain  may  be  added  an  extract  from  a 
letter  of  the  new  Viscount  Mansfield  to  Buckingham.  It  is 
dated  February  27,  1626-1627  :  ^ 

May  it  please  your  Grace, 

Accordinge  to  your  Lop  commands  I  have  treated  with  my  cosen 
Pierepont,  and  as  effectually  as  I  coulde,  his  answer  in  his  own  wordes 
are  these:  he  sayeth  that  Doctor  Moore  treated  with  him  in  King 
James  his  times  about  Honor  and  tolde  him  that  if  he  woulde  be  a 
Baron  he  might  and  for  4000^  ....  For  my  parte  I  never  herde 
that  a  Baron  was  under  9  or  10,000^,  but  for  my  one  experience,  I 
had  little  more  than  in  the  quittinge  of  an  olde  debt. 

Apparently  traffic  in  peerages  was  well  understood  in  that  day, 
and  if  Cavendish  did  not  in  cold  blood  put  his  money  down  on 
the  table,  there  was  ''value  received"  for  his  honors  in  the 
cancelling  of  old  claims  or  obligations. 

The  Duchess,  unconscious  of  this  political  chicanery,  goes  on 
to  mention  her  husband's  appointment  as  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
Derbyshire,  a  post  which  he  kept  during  the  minority  of  "the  now 
Earl  of  Devonshire."  She  expatiates  on  his  abilities  in  this  office 
and  also  as  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Nottinghamshire  ^  and  then  comes 
quickly  down  to  1628,  the  year  in  which  he  was  created  Earl  of 
Newcastle  by  Charles  L^  At  this  time  he  was  made  Baron 
Cavendish  of  Bolsover  and,  as  his  wife  claims,  also  of  Bothal 

^  State  Papers  {.Domestic),  Charles  I,  LV,  No.  26,  in  First  Duke  and  Duchess, 
pp.  13-14.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  Buckingham  was  jealous  of  Newcastle, 
and  Lodge's  statement  to  that  effect  {Portraits,  ed.  1850,  VI,  2),  may  be  due 
to  a  confusion  between  the  elder  Buckingham  and  his  son.  Cavendish's  rela- 
tions with  the  second  George  Villiers  will  be  discussed  in  another  place. 

2  For  details  about  this  period  see  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  12  Rep.,  App.,  Part  /, 
PP-  303*  325,  and  especially  pp.  443-445  concerning  the  punishment  of  a 
criminal  and  Newcastle's  gifts  to  the  surviving  relatives. 

*  "  His  arms  were  S,  three  Buck's  Heads  caboshed,  Arg.  attired  O.  A  cres- 
cent for  difference."  —  Banks,  III,  547. 


14  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

and  Heple.^  These  latter  titles  have  not  been  satisfactorily 
authenticated,  but  her  mere  statement,  being  so  nearly  contem- 
porary, ought  to  decide  the  matter;  besides,  to  any  but  an 
extreme  hero-worshipper  great  subsequent  honors  might  easily 
cause  the  less  to  be  forgotten. 

Now  *'  in  the  year  1638,  his  Majesty  called  him  up  to  Court, 
and  thought  him  the  fittest  person  whom  he  might  intrust  with 
the  government  of  his  son  Charles,  then  Prince  of  Wales,  now 
our  most  gracious  King,  and  made  him  withal  a  member  of  the 
Lords  of  his  Majesty's  most  honourable  Privy  Council."  Thus 
the  Duchess,  but  again  there  is  a  seamy  side  to  her  story.  This 
appointment  seems  to  have  been  the  result  of  five  and  a  half 
years  of  deliberate  scheming  on  Cavendish's  part.  We  first  find 
the  matter  mentioned  in  a  letter  from  Francis,  Lord  Cottington 
to  Newcastle,  dated  December  13,  1632  :^ 

The  King  is  now  well  though  he  still  keeps  his  chamber,  and  my 
Lord  Deputy  [i.e.  Strafford]  is  precisely  sent  for,  so  that  you  will  have 
one  friend  more  here.  You  are  appointed  to  attend  the  King  into 
Scotland  which  I  conceive  might  be  a  good  motive  for  your  friends 
to  put  it  to  a  period. 

In  accordance  with  this  suggestion,  when  the  royal  visit  to 
Welbeck  occurred  in  May,  1633,  Newcastle  made  a  sumptuous 
feast,  which  reached  its  climax  in  a  masque  written  for  the  occa- 
sion by  Ben  Jonson,  and  which  cost,  according  to  the  frequently 
exaggerative  Duchess,  upwards  of  four  thousand  pounds.^   He 

1  Cokayne,  VI,  22,  has  this  note  in  connection  with  his  Marquessate : 
"  Also  according  to  Doyle's  '  Official  Baronage,'  Baron  Bertram  and  Bolsover 
and,  according  to  Beatson's  '  Political  Index,'  Baron  of  Bothal  and  Hepple. 
Heylin  asserts  that  he  was  a  Baron  of  Bertram  together  with  the  Marquessate 
of  Newcastle.  No  mention,  however,  is  made  of  any  of  these  Baronies  in  the 
'  Creations  1483-1646,'  tho'  in  his  Garter  plate  his  Baronial  titles  are  given  as 
*Ogle,  Bertnim  and  Bolsover.'"  ^  if^elbeck  Mss.,  II,  122-123. 

8  Sir  Edmond  Moundeford  writes  on  June  25,  1633:  "Our  King  is  well, 
his  entertainment  great  at  his  journey ;  the  Lord  of  Newcastle  most  famous 
for  his  meat,  the  Bishop  of  York  most  famous  for  his  drink."  —  Hist.  Mss. 
Comm.,  10  Rep.,  App.,  Part  11^  p.  143. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  1 5 

also  attended  Charles  on  his  Scottish  journey,  and  of  that,  with 
many  other  important  things,  we  hear  in  a  letter  written  to 
Strafford,  the  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland  i^ 

Welbeck,  the  5th  of  August,  1633. 
My  most  honoured  Lord, 

I  heartily  congratulate  your  Lordship's  safe  arrival  in  Ireland,  next 
I  am  to  beg  your  pardon  for  not  presenting  my  service  to  you  by  letter 
all  this  while ;  but  in  good  faith,  my  Lord  the  reason  was,  I  daily  heard 
you  were  going.  I  give  your  Lordship  humble  thanks  for  your  noble 
and  kind  counsel ;  the  truth  is,  my  Lord,  I  have  waited  of  the  King 
the  Scottish  journey  both  diligently,  and,  as  Sir  Robert  Swift  said  of 
my  Lord  of  Carlisle,  it  was  of  no  small  charge  unto  me.  I  cannot  find 
by  the  King  but  he  seemed  to  be  pleased  with  me  very  well,  and  never 
used  me  better  or  more  graciously ;  the  truth  is,  I  have  hurt  my  estate 
much  with  the  hopes  of  it,  and  I  have  been  put  in  hope  long,  and  so 
long  as  I  will  labour  no  more  in  it,  but  let  nature  work  and  expect  the 
issue  at  Welbeck ;  for  I  would  be  loth  to  be  sick  in  mind,  body  and 
purse,  and  when  it  is  too  late  to  repent,  and  my  reward  laughed  at  for 
my  labour.  It  is  better  to  give  over  in  time  with  some  loss  than  lose 
all,  and  mend  what  is  to  come,  seeing  what  is  past  is  not  in  my  power 
to  help.  Besides,  my  Lord,  if  I  obtained  what  I  desire,  it  would  be  a 
more  painful  life,  and  since  I  am  so  much  plunged  in  debt,  it  would 
help  very  well  to  undo  me,  for  I  know  not  how  to  get,  neither  know 
I  any  reason  why  the  King  should  give  me  anything.  Children  come 
on  apace,  my  Lord,  and  with  this  weight  of  debt  that  lies  upon  me, 
I  know  no  diet  better  than  a  strict  diet  in  the  country,  which,  in  time, 
may  recover  me  of  the  prodigal  disease.  By  your  favour,  my  Lord,  I 
cannot  say  I  have  recovered  myself  at  Welbeck  this  summer,  but  run 
much  more  in  debt  than  ever  I  did,  but  I  hope  hereafter  I  may.  The 
truth  is,  my  Lord,  for  my  court  business,  your  Lordship  with  your 
noble  friends  and  mine  have  spoken  so  often  to  the  King,  and  myself 
refreshed  his  memory  in  that  particular,  so  that  I  mean  not  to  move 
my  friends,  any  more  to  their  so  great  trouble,  but  whatsoever  pleases 
his  Majesty,  be  fully  contented,  and  look  after  some  other  Uttle  con- 
tentment within  myself,  which  shall  well  serve  me  during  my  life,  and 
if  the  King  command  me,  I  am  at  all  times  ready  to  serve  him ;  if  no 

1  Strafford's  Letters^  I,  loi.  A  previous  letter  of  Newcastle's  to  Wentworth 
(I,  43)  evidently  refers  to  the  writer's  altercation  with  Lord  Savile.  See  also 
CaUndar  of  State  Papers  {Domestic),  ibzB-ibzg,  p.  l86. 


1 6  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

commands,  pray  for  him  heartily.  For,  by  my  troth,  my  Lord,  I  know 
no  man  in  the  whole  world  more  bound  unto  his  Majesty  than  myself. 
For  that  point  to  try  your  Lordship's  friends  in  my  behalf,  I  humbly 
thank  you  for  the  motion,  and  I  desire  your  Lordship  to  follow  it. 
For  the  King's  particular  Hking  of  my  proper  person,  I  think  my  Lord 
of  Carlisle  would  do  best,  or  what  doth  your  Lordship  think  to  his 
Lady,  for  further  I  would  not  willingly  have  it  go ;  but  I  assure  your 
Lordship  I  am  most  confident  of  the  King's  good  opinion  of  me ;  and 
about  my  Lord  Savile's  business  and  mine,  his  Majesty  pleased  me 
extremely,  being  never  moved  by  me  or  any  friend  in  my  behalf  that 
I  desired.  My  Lord  Treasurer  used  me  extreme  well  and  extraordinary 
kindly ;  my  Lord  of  Carlisle  for  your  Lordship's  sake,  but  the  greatest 
news  is  my  Lord  of  Holland  courted  me  extremely ;  and  so  to  conclude 
with  this  business,  I  intend  to  be  quiet  and  not  press  the  King  at  all, 
but  to  leave  his  Majesty  to  his  own  time,  and  rest  quietly  here  in  the 
country ;  and  this  I  assure  your  Lordship  is  my  resolution  and  my  full 
intention,  and  except  it  be  to  the  purpose,  their  greatest  friendship 
is  to  let  me  rest  here.  I  humbly  thank  your  Lordship  for  your  noble 
favours  to  my  old  servant;  for  my  groom,  my  Lord,  I  beseech  you 
keep  him,  and  I  am  sorry  your  Lordship  will  use  such  ceremony  with 
me.  For  La  Roche,  I  always  told  your  Lordship  my  opinion  of  him, 
and  in  good  faith,  he  is  no  such  horseman,  neither  for  anything  I  ever 
saw,  but  got  a  great  reputation  with  doing  little :  I  would  your  Lord- 
ship had  taken  Porter,  but  I  know  not  how  he  is  disposed  of.  I  assure 
your  Lordship  that  horse  you  pleased  to  accept,  I  thought  him  the 
fittest  horse  in  the  world  for  that  purpose,  but  your  Lordship  doth  not 
write  how  you  approve  of  him.  My  Lord,  in  a  word,  I  desire  no  man's 
favour  and  love  more  than  yours,  or  would  be  more  beholding  to  any 
man  sooner ;  for  I  protest  to  God,  I  honour  and  love  you  heartily,  and 
I  vow  without  any  end  or  particular  in  the  whole  world ;  your  Lord- 
ship's favours  to  me  are  merely  your  own  goodness  for  I  shall  never 
be  useful  to  you  in  any  kind,  which  makes  my  obligation,  such  that  I 
must  ever  be  faithfully. 

Your  Lordship's  most  humble  servant, 

W.  Newcastle 

This  letter  is  extremely  interesting  as  showing  the  alternate 
waves  of  hope  and  depression  so  characteristic  of  the  office- 
seeker  :  now,  he  will  strain  every  nerve  to  the  utmost ;  again, 
the  cost  seems  far  greater  than  the  end  desired.    Newcastle 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  17 

finally  succeeded  in  his  aim,  but  the  affair  was  to  cause  him 
much  more  anxiety  before  it  was  terminated.  On  July  19,  1634, 
Strafford  wrote  Newcastle  from  Dublin  :  ^ 

I  have  not  got  word  from  my  Lord  of  Carlisle  concerning  your 
Lordship,  which  certainly  comes  from  no  other  cause  than  the  uni- 
versal negligence,  which  possesseth  him  in  all  his  own  affairs  and  in 
all  other  things,  but  in  doing  civilities  and  courtesies  to  his  friends,  but 
I  have  given  my  brother  charge  to  renew  it  unto  him  very  effectually 
and  this  being  of  the  King's  at  your  house,  I  see  will  be  a  very  fit  time 
to  get  from  him  his  judgment.  But  upon  the  whole  matter  my  opinion 
is,  that  attending  upon  the  King  two  or  three  days'  journey,  after  his 
going  from  Welbeck,  you  should  yourself  gently  renew  the  motion  to 
the  King,  as  one  resolved  to  take  it  only  as  a  personal  obligation  from 
himself  alone;  and  therefore  if  his  Majesty  should  be  inclined  to 
grant  you  that  desire,  which  ariseth  merely  from  a  singleness  of  affec- 
tion, you  should  receive  it  and  value  it,  as  the  highest  honour  you  can 
have  in  this  world  to  be  always  near  him.  On  the  other  side,  if  in  his 
wisdom  he  should  not  conceive  it  fit,  you  should  wholly  acquiesce  in 
his  good  pleasure,  and  beseech  him  to  reckon  of  you  as  a  servant  of 
his,  ready  to  lay  down  your  life,  wherever  he  should  be  pleased  to 
require  it  of  you ;  and  be  sure  to  express  it  plainly,  that  if  he  in  his 
grace  toward  you  shall  think  good  to  take  you  so  near  him  it  shall  be 
your  greatest  comfort ;  but  to  have  it  by  any  other  means  or  interpo- 
.  sition,  which  might  expect  any  of  the  obligation  from  his  Majesty,  it 
would  in  no  degree  be  so  acceptable  unto  you,  that  covet  it  not  for 
any  private  bettering  of  your  fortune,  but  merely  as  a  mark  of  his 
respect  and  estimation  of  you,  and  that  you  might  have  the  happiness  to 
spend  your  life  near  that  person  which  you  did  not  only  reverence  as 
your  sovereign,  but  infinitely  love  and  admire  for  his  piety  and  wisdom. 

This  second  visit  of  the  King  to  Welbeck  occurred  on  July 
30,  1634.2  According  to  the  Duchess,  Charles  was  so  pleased 

1  Strafford's  Letters,  I,  274.  Other  epistles  from  Strafford  to  Newcastle  may 
be  found  in  the  Letters,  I,  410,  and  II,  256,  281.  Also  in  Ellis's  Original  Letters, 
Series  II,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  281-286. 

2  See  a  letter  from  Sir  John  Coke  to  Newcastle  under  this  date,  urging 
him  to  scatter  a  multitude  of  miners  assembled  at  Welbeck  to  present 
Charles  with  a  mutinous  petition,  "  that  their  Majesties  may  peaceably  enjoy 
the  honour  you  intend  them  without  distraction  or  trouble." — Hist.  Mss. 
Comm.,  12  Rep.,  App.,  Part  II,  p.  60. 


1 8  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

with  his  previous  entertainment  that  he  asked  Newcastle  to 
repeat  it  for  Henrietta  Maria,  who  was  making  a  northern 
progress.  The  King  was  to  be  with  her,  and  Cavendish,  in  the 
midst  of  court  intrigues,  naturally  wished  to  put  his  best  foot 
foremost.  He  and  his  wife  resigned  Welbeck  to  the  sovereigns 
and  moved  to  their  other  estate  five  miles  distant,  at  Bolsover 
in  Derbyshire.  Here  a  feast  was  held.  The  country  gentry  came 
to  wait  on  their  Majesties,  and  Ben  Jonson  wrote  another  masque 
for  this  occasion.  Loves  Welcome  ^  the  Kings  and  Queen  s  enter- 
tainment at  Bolsover.  This  magnificence  was  doubtless  very 
pleasing  to  Charles,  but  it  did  not  accomplish  Newcastle's 
purpose  at  once  and  plunged  him  into  the  furthet  expense  of 
;£ 1 4,000  or  ;^ 1 5,000.  Nevertheless  he  did  not  give  up  his 
design,  for  two  years  later  we  find  him  writing  to  his  wife  of  his 
varying  success  at  court.^  On  April  8  he  feels  that  the  King 
is  favorable  despite  contrary  intrigues ;  a  week  later  he  names 
various  other  applicants,  who  he  expects  will  be  unsuccessful ; 
but  by  May  23  we  read,  ''  I  am  very  weary  and  mean  to  come 
down  presently.  I  was  yesterday  with  the  '  B.B.'  2  and  for 
anything  I  find  it  is  a  lost  business." 

Persistency  was  successful,  however,  and  on  March  19,  1637- 
1638,  Secretary  Windebank  wrote  him  of  his  official  appointment 
to  the  long-coveted  post  of  tutor  to  Prince  Charles.  Strafford's 
suggestions  had  been  only  too  well  followed,  and,  in  accordance 
with  his  letter  to  Newcastle  already  quoted,  Windebank  added 
to  the  more  formal  announcement  this  statement :  ^ 

His  Majesty  hath  expressly  commended  me  to  let  your  Lordship 
know,  that  you  have  no  particular  obligation  to  any  whatsoever  in  this 
business,  but  merely  and  entirely  to  the  King's  and  Queen's  Majesties 
alone :  who  of  their  own  mere  and  special  grace  and  goodness  have 
made  this  choice,  and  vouchsafed  you  this  honour. 

1  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  127. 

2  An  abbreviation  for  "  Bishop." 
8  Clarendon  State  Papers,  II,  7-8. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  19 

Newcastle's  reply  was  conventional  enough,  but  Strafford's  let- 
ter of  congratulation  to  him  demands  consideration.  It  is  of 
June  I  and  runs  :  ^ 

My  very  good  Lord, 

May  all  honour  and  joy  crown  your  Lordship's  leaving,  as  the  taking 
upon  you  this  new  employment :  and  certainly  a  mighty  mark  of  his 
Majesty's  estimation  of  you,  that  intrusts  you  with  the  keeping  of  so 
precious  a  jewel,  indeed  the  dearest  pledge  of  all  which  can  be  desired 
or  hoped,  by  King  or  people.  .  .  . 

My  Lord,  I  right  well  know  your  own  wisdom  sufficient  to  direct 
your  course  in  the  new  world  you  are  to  come  into,  yet  I  trust  the 
excess  of  my  affection  may  be  well  interpreted.  Your  Lordship  hath 
this  charge  put  upon  you  immediately  by  the  King,  so  (as  it  may  be 
thought)  careful,  you  should  so  understand  it,  as  to  be  jealous  your 
Lordship  should  have  the  least  apprehension  any  other  creature  had 
any  share  with  him  or  you  in  this  business.  Good  my  Lord  consider 
seriously  what  might  be  the  true  English  of  this,  in  my  opinion  it  is 
certainly  and  easily  understood,  the  reading  of  it  very  plain.  As  his 
Majesty  thus  shews  your  obligation  to  be  only  his,  consequently  in- 
structs you,  that  as  well  in  justice,  as  discretion,  your  acknowledg- 
ment ought  not  to  divide  into  several  streams,  but  intirely  pour  forth 
themselves  before  him  and  to  him. 

Evidently  the  Deputy  was  anxious  to  have  it  thought  this 
appointment  was  spontaneous  on  Charles's  part,  which  must 
have  pleased  Newcastle  tremendously,  and  by  the  advice  given 
the  new  tutor  to  abstain  from  court  politics  Strafford  assured 
his  sovereign  of  at  least  one  loyal,  unselfish  retainer.  So  by 
a  slight  but  diplomatic  perversion  of  the  truth,  this  matter  was 
at  length  settled  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  concerned. 

The  only  information  which  we  have  as  to  Cavendish's 
actual  experiences  with  his  pupil  is  contained  in  three  contem- 
porary letters.2    The  eight-year-old  Prince  ^  evidently  refused 

^  Strafford's  Letters,  II,  174. 

*  Facsimiles  of  the  first  two  are  given  in  Airy's  Charles  II,  1901,  fac- 
ing p.  8. 

•  Strickland's  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  England,  1851,  V,  265. 


20  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

to  take  his  prescribed  medicine,  and  Henrietta  Maria  sent  him 
a  reprimand : 

Charles  I  am  sore  that  I  must  begin  my  first  letter  with  chiding  you 

because  I  heere  that  you  will  not  take  phisike    I  hope  it  was  onlei  for 

this  day  and  that  to  morrow  you  will  doe  it  for  if  you  will  not  I  must 

come  to  you :  and  make  you  take  it  for  it  is  for  your  healthe.    I  have 

given  order  to  my  lord  newcastell  to  send  mi  worde  tonight  whether 

you  will  or  will  not  therfore  I  hope  you  will  not  give  mi  the  paines  to 

goe  and  so  I  rest  your  affectionate  mother 

Henrietta  Marie  R. 
To  my  deare 

sone  the  prince. 

Later  Charles  addressed  his  governor,  who  was  then  sick,  and 
humorously  touched  on  the  question  of  medicine  again.  This 
letter,  written  in  a  round  hand,  between  double-ruled  lines, 
shows  real  affection  and  no  little  wit  on  the  Prince's  part : 

My  Lord, 

I  would  not  have  you  take  too  much  Phisick :  for  it  doth  allwaies 
make  me  worse,  &  I  think  it  will  do  the  like  with  you  I  ride  every 
day;  and  am  ready  to  follow  any  other  directions  from  you.  Make 
hast  to  returne  to  him  that  loues  you.  Charles  P. 

One  other  note  from  the  Prince  to  his  tutor  survives :  ^ 

My  Lord 

I  thank  you  for  your  New  Years  guift;  I  am  very  well  pleased 
with  it,  especially  with  the  brass  Statues.  On  Munday  by  three  of  the 
clock  I  shall  be  glad  to  meete  you  at  Lambeth.  Charles 

During  Newcastle's  tutorship  occurred  an  event  about  which 
we  may  safely  follow  the  Duchess,  as  she  is  backed  up  by 
Clarendon  and  Rushworth.^  At  the  time  of  the  insurrection  in 
Scotland,  Newcastle  lent  his  monarch  £  10,000  and  furnished 
a  volunteer  troop  of  horse,  which  his  popularity  in  the  north 

i  Ellis,  Original  Letters,  Series  I,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  287. 

2  Clarendon's  History  of  the  Rebellion,  Book  III,  §  23,  and  Rushworth's 
Collections,  II,  ii,  929-930  and  946. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  21 

country  enabled  him  to  raise. ^  It  was  known  as  Prince  Charles's 
troop,  and  when,  during  a  march  over  the  Scottish  border,  the 
Earl  of  Holland  put  this  company  in  the  rear,  Newcastle 
ordered  his  Prince's  colors  lowered,  rather  than  have  them 
so  subordinated. 2  King  Charles  apparently  learned  that  the 
cause  of  this  occurrence  was  Holland's  jealousy,  for  he  com- 
mended Newcastle,  shortly  after  made  him  a  member  of  the 
Privy  Council,  and  ordered  that  the  troop  should  be  commanded 
by  no  one  but  himself.  Thereafter  a  duel  was  to  be  fought 
between  these  two  Earls,  but  Holland  did  not  appear  at  the 
rendezvous,  Charles  learned  of  what  had  happened,  and  peace 
was  restored.^  The  Duchess  does  not  mention  her  Lord's  oppo- 
nent by  name,  in  accordance  with  her  husband's  instructions* 
not  to  particularize  about  his  enemies,  and  it  was  probably  for 
this  same  reason  that  the  bracketed  words  in  the  following 
sentence  were  carefully  inked  out  before  publication  : 

Thus  they  (the  troop)  remained  upon  duty,  [without  receiving  any 
payment  or  allowance  from  his  Majesty,]  until  his  Majesty  had  reduced 
his  rebellious  subjects,  and  then  my  Lord  returned  with  honour  to  his 
charge,  viz.  the  government  of  the  Prince. 

His  position  was  not  to  continue  for  long,  however.  In 
1 64 1,  when  Newcastle  learned  that  the  Parliament,  now  in 
complete  control  of  affairs,  had  resolved  to  displace  him,  he  fore- 
stalled them  by  voluntarily  resigning.  Our  authoress  does  not 
probe  further  into  the  causes,  but  they  seem  to  lie  in  the  fact 
that  the  so-called  "  Army  Plot "  had  been  discovered.  The 
responsibility  for  this  plan  to  bring  the  army  south,  that  it 
might  support  Charles  by  overawing  Parliament,  rested  chiefly 

1  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  Memoirs^  I,  163-164. 

*  See  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  12  Rep.,  App.,  Part  V,  I,  512,  517. 

'  See  also  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  12  Rep.,  App.,  Part  II,  p.  240,  and  Memoirs  of 
the  Vemey  Family,  I,  322. 

*  «  The  Preface,"  Firth,  p.  xliii. 


22  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

upon  Suckling  and  Jermyn  ^ ;  and  as  Strafford  was  now  in  the 
tower  and  Northumberland  still  invalided,  the  conspirators  set- 
tled upon  Newcastle  as  commander.  When  these  facts  became 
known  to  Parliament,  it  was  impossible  that  Prince  Charles 
should  remain  longer  in  his  governor's  hands,  and  the  inevi- 
table result  followed.2  Newcastle  retired  to  the  country,  perhaps 
not  altogether  unwillingly,  for  during  his  three  years  of  office 
he  had  run  ;£40,ooo  in  debt.^ 

Yet  he  was  to  get  only  a  few  months'  leisure  before  the 
King  had  more  work  for  him  to  do.^  Early  in  January,  1642, 
Charles  wrote  Newcastle  bidding  him  hasten  to  Hull  and  take 
command  there.  A  commission  had  previously  been  given  him 
in  expectation  of  future  trouble,  because  in  that  town  were 
assembled  all  the  ammunition  and  supplies  for  a  Scotch  cam- 
paign. Newcastle  arrived  on  January  14  and  had  himself  pro- 
claimed as  Governor,  but  when  Parliamentary  troops  headed 
by  Hotham  and  a  Royalist  force  under  Legg  appeared  before 
the  walls  of  Hull,  the  mayor  refused  admittance  to  both. 
Within  three  days  the  House  of  Peers  sent  for  Newcastle  to 
appear  before  them,^  and  the  vacillating  Charles  ordered  him 
to  obey.  Cavendish  was  cleared  as  acting  under  royal  com- 
mission, but  Hull  with  its  precious  contents  was  irretrievably 
lost  to  Charles. 

Not  long  after,  matters  became  so  desperate  that  the  Queen 
was  forced  to  flee  the  country,  while  her  husband  repaired  to 
York.    Thither  Newcastle  was  summoned  and  put  in  charge 

i"Mr.  Jermaine  named  my  Lord  of  Newcastle." — Welbeck  Mss.,  I,  12, 
and  also  20,  22. 

2  S.  R.  Gardiner's  History  of  England,  1603-1642,  IX,  313 ;  Firth,  p.  8,  n. 

8  Firth,  p.  6,  n.,  quotes  a  letter  in  the  record  office  by  Thomas  Wiseman. 

*  The  King  seems  to  have  been  on  very  close  terms  with  Newcastle. 
The  Duchess  states  that  Charles  even  created  peers  at  her  husband's  request 
(Firth,  p.  loi)  and  Cavendish  certainly  exerted  what  influence  he  possessed 
(Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  12  Rep.,  App.,  PaH  II,  pp.  120-121). 

6  Clarendon,  Book  IV,  §  215. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  23 

of  his  titular  stronghold,  with  jurisdiction  over  the  four  northern 
counties  of  Northumberland,  Cumberland,  Westmoreland,  and 
Durham.  Almost  the  first  problem  that  presented  itself  was 
a  mutiny  of  train-band  soldiers  in  the  Bishopric  of  Durham, 
which  demanded  his  immediate  presence;  *' where  at  his  arrival," 
says  the  Duchess,  **  (I  mention  it  by  the  way,  and  as  a  merry 
passage)  a  jovial  fellow  used  this  expression,  that  he  Jiked  my 
Lord  very  well,  but  not  his  company  (meaning  his  soldiers)." 
This  uprising  was  quickly  subdued,  with  the  result  that  most 
stringent  rules  were  enforced  as  to  church  government  there ; 
Dr.  Cosin,  Dean  of  Peterborough,  was  to  censor  all  sermons 
and  see  that  they  were  leavened  with  good  Royalist  sentiment. 
At  about  this  time  £^  500,  with  a  consignment  of  arms  under 
the  escort  of  Davenant  and  Cook,^  was  received  from  her 
Majesty  in  Holland,  while  a  shipload  of  ammunition  and 
weapons  came  from  the  King  of  Denmark.  Thus  encour- 
aged, Newcastle  resolved  to  raise  an  army.  Charles  approved, 
of  course,  as  it  would  mean  no  personal  inconvenience  for 
himself,  and  sent  the  Earl  a  commission  as  general,  with 
power  to  confer  knighthood  or  coin  money.  A  regiment  of 
foot  and  a  troop  of  horse  had  already  been  raised,^  but  Charles 
saw  fit  to  detain  the  latter  when  it  escorted  Henrietta  Maria's 
ammunition  to  him.  Newcastle's  popularity  and  family  con- 
nections in  the  north  ^  now  enabled  him  to  get  together  an 
army  of  8000  horse,  foot,  and  dragoons,  which  was  later 
enlarged  to  100,000  men,  according  to  an  almost  incredible 

1  Letters  of  Henrietta  Maria,  ed.  Green,  p.  121. 

2  In  Book  III  (Firth,  p.  90)  the  Duchess  says  that  Charles  appropriated 
both  regiment  and  troop. 

8  Compare  Mrs.  Hutchinson,  I,  164:  "He  had,  indeed,  through  his  great 
estate,  his  liberal  hospitality,  and  constant  residence  in  his  country,  so  en- 
deared them  to  him  that  no  man  was  a  greater  prince  in  all  that  northern 
quarter ;  till  a  foolish  ambition  of  glorious  slavery  carried  him  to  court,  where 
he  ran  himself  much  into  debt,  to  purchase  neglects  of  the  king  and  queen 
and  scorns  of  the  proud  courtiers." 


24  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

statement  by  the  Duchess.  Among  the  number  were  3000 
that  the  general  had  chosen  for  his  own  regiment.  *'They 
were  called  White-coats,  for  this  following  reason :  my  Lord 
being  resolved  to  give  them  new  liveries,  and  there  being  not 
red  cloth  enough  to  be  had,  took  up  so  much  of  white,  as 
would  serve  to  clothe  them,  desiring  withal,  their  patience 
until  he  had  got  it  dyed ;  but  they,  impatient  of  stay,  requested 
my  Lord,  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  let  them  have  it  undyed 
as  it  was,  promising  they  themselves  would  dye  it  in  the 
enemy's  blood.  Which  request  my  Lord  granted  them,  and 
from  that  time  they  were  called  White-coats,"^  or  sometimes 
"Newcastle's  Lambs." 

No  sooner  was  this  high-spirited  force  organized  than  there 
came  to  its  general  a  plea  from  the  Yorkshire  Royalists  that 
he  would  come  to  their  assistance.  Lord  Fairfax  and  his 
untrained  Parliamentary  troops  had  driven  Charles's  supporters 
into  the  town  of  York,  where  they  laid  siege  to  that  meagrely 
defended  stronghold.  After  negotiations  which  lasted  through 
September  and  October,  1642,2  Newcastle  decided  to  grant 
their  request,  publishing  first  a  declaration  ''for  his  resolution 
of  marching  into  Yorkshire,  as  also  a  just  vindication  of  him- 
self from  that  unjust  aspersion  laid  upon  him  for  entertaining 
some  Popish  recusants  in  his  service."  As  a  matter  of  fact 
he  pleads  guilty  to  the  latter  offense,  but  with  eminent  success 
defends  himself  for  committing  it.^  His  march  to  York  was 
repeatedly  interrupted  by  the  enemy,  most  notably  at  Fierce- 
bridge  on  December  i,  but  nevertheless  it  was  accomplished 
in  an  unusually  short  time.  ''  It  cannot  be  denied,"  says 
Clarendon,  ''that  the  Earl  of  Newcastle,  by  his  quick  march 
with  his  troops,  as  soon  as  he  had  received  his  commission 

1  Firth,  p.  84.  2  Letters  reprinted  by  Firth,  pp.  188-191. 

8  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  78-81.  Charles  had  instructed  him  to  employ  Catholics 
(Ellis's  Original  Letters,  Series  I,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  291). 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  25 

to  be  general  and  in  the  depth  of  winter,  redeemed  or  rescued 
the  city  of  York  from  the  rebels,  when  they  looked  upon  it 
as  their  own,  and  had  it  even  within  their  grasp."  ^  Once 
arrived,  he  had  a  tax  levied  to  support  his  army,  rather  than 
that  the  soldiers  should  forage  for  their  own  supplies,  which 
was  stringently  forbidden. 

It  was  winter  and  Newcastle  might  well  have  stayed  within 
the  walls  of  York,  but  he  hastened  out  to  attack  the  enemy  at 
Tadcaster,  although  a  little  more  deliberation  would  have  made 
for  greater  efficiency  in  the  end.  As  events  turned  out,  it 
took  three  separate  expeditions  to  subjugate  the  West  Riding, 
notwithstanding  that  his  forces  were  greatly  superior  to  those 
of  Parliament.  The  Duchess,  of  course,  is  so  completely  blind 
to  any  deficiency  of  her  Lord's  that  she  can  only  admire  his 
activity  and  daring.  Indeed,  the  first  mishap  was  due  to  no 
fault  of  his.  Tadcaster  stood  on  the  west  bank  of  a  river, 
accessible  from  York  only  by  a  stone  bridge,  which  Fairfax 
had  broken  down  and  afterwards  fortified.  Since  this  position 
was  exceedingly  difficult  to  attack,  Newcastle  planned  a  simul- 
taneous movement  from  two  sides  of  the  town.  He  himself 
led  the  foot  from  the  east,  but  the  Lieutenant-General  who 
was  to  appear  on  the  west  with  the  horse  failed  to  arrive  at 
his  appointed  hour.  In  Drake's  Eboracum'^  it  is  stated  that 
this  delinquent  was  the  Earl  of  Newport.  The  Duchess,  of 
course,  does  not  mention  his  name,  but  clearly  says  that  it  was 
the  ''then  Lieutenant-General  of  the  army"  and  in  another 
passage  assigns  that  office  to  "first  Earl  of  Newport,  afterwards 
the  Lord  Eythin."  Lord  Ethyn,  better  known  as  General  King, 
was  appointed  to  the  position  sometime  in  January,  partly  as 
a  result  of  this  error  on  Newport's  part.^    A  curious  mistake 

1  Clarendon,  Book  VIII,  §  84.  2  i^  193. 

8  See  Ellis's  Original  Letters^  Series  I,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  295-296,  and  Firth, 
p.  i8,n.  I. 


26  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

has  been  recently  made^  in  identifying  this  "Lieutenant- 
General  "  with  Lord  Goring,  General  of  the  Horse,  and  a 
pretty  moral  pointed  as  to  having  intemperate  and  jealous 
officers  in  any  army.  Newcastle's  subordinates  were  unwisely 
appointed  no  doubt,^  but  Goring  must  be  acquitted  of  this  par- 
ticular blunder.  The  real  reason  for  it  is  even  more  obscure, 
although  difficulties  in  Newport's  march  ^  and  a  letter  forged 
by  the  enemy*  make  concrete  our  authoress's  charges  of  "  neg- 
lect or  treachery."  Surprisingly  enough,  however,  Newcastle's 
single  attack  coupled  with  a  shortage  of  ammunition  ^  (this  lat- 
ter extenuating  circumstance  is  not  mentioned  by  our  historian) 
caused  the  rebels  to  evacuate  Tadcaster.  *'  My  Lord  "  entered 
the  town  and  garrisoned  it,  thence  moving  on  to  Pomfret, 
where  he  repeated  this  performance. 

During  his  stay  at  Pomfret  an  important  episode  occurred 
very  detrimental  to  Royalist  hopes  and  significantly  not  men- 
tioned in  the  Life^  Sir  William  Saville  was  sent  to  capture  cer- 
tain manufacturing  towns  in  the  West  Riding,  of  which  Leeds 
and  Wakefield  soon  submitted.  At  Bradford,  however,  he  was 
severely  repulsed,  and  a  few  days  later  Sir  Thomas  Fairfax 
took  charge  of  the  local  forces,  Leeds  was  recaptured,  and 
about  five  hundred  prisoners  were  taken.  Meantime  Newark 
in  Nottinghamshire  had  been  garrisoned,  and  on  January  27, 
1642-1643,  Newcastle  returned  to  York  to  obtain  some  ammu- 
nition which  he  had  had  sent  from  the  north.  Its  dilatory 
arrival  cannot  offset  General  King's  splendid  defense  of  the 
convoy  when  it  was  attacked  at  Yarum  Bridge. 

1  First  Duke  and  Duchess,  p.  8o. 

2  Henrietta  Maria  had  a  hand  in  the  appointments  of  both  King  and 
Goring.  See  Clarendon,  Book  VI,  §  264,  and  Letters  of  Henrietta  Maria, 
pp.  149-150- 

8  Sir  Henry  Slingsby's  Diary,  ed.  1836,  p.  86. 

4  Drake's  Eboracum,  I,  193. 

^  Letter  of  Lord  Fairfax,  December  10,  1642,  in  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  92. 

6  Firth,  p.  17.  n.    Cf.  Catalogue  of  the  Thomason  Tracts,  I,  208,  213. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  27 

On  February  22  Henrietta  Maria  ^  landed  at  Burlington  in 
the  East  Riding.  All  accounts  agree  as  to  the  difficulties 
attendant  on  her  arrival  and  as  to  a  subsequent  bombardment 
of  the  house  where  she  lodged.  Newcastle  had  marched  down 
to  meet  his  Queen,  and  afterwards  he  escorted  her  safely  back 
to  York.  She  '*  graciously  accepted "  ^£3000  sterling  from 
him,  but  the  arms  she  had  brought  she  sent  on  to  Charles, 
who  in  true  Stuart  fashion  ''was  pleased  to  keep  with  him 
for  his  own  service"  their  guard  of  1500  men.  The  Queen's 
arrival  aided  Newcastle  in  winning  over  Sir  Hugh  Cholmley, 
Governor  of  Scarborough  Castle,  and  thus  gaining  that  strong- 
hold by  peaceful  means.^  The  Duchess,  as  we  might  expect, 
credits  her  husband  with  this  entire  exploit,  nor  does  she 
mention  his  subsequent  failure  to  enlist  the  Hothams  on 
Charles's  side.^  These  negotiations,  which  began  in  March  of 
this  same  year,  accomplished  nothing  for  the  King  but  resulted 
in  the  ultimate  execution  of  those  unfortunate  officers  as 
traitors  to  Parliament. 

A  second  expedition  from  York  was  begun  in  March,  1642- 
1643,  when  Lord  Goring  was  sent  with  some  horsemen  to 
intercept  the  enemy's  march.  He  met  them  on  Seacroft  Moor 
and  there,  according  to  all  accounts,  effected  a  complete  rout. 
Newcastle  then  ordered  out  another  party,  which  had  like 
success  at  Tankerly  Moor,  and  finally  took  the  field  himself 
with  his  main  army.  He  passed  by  Leeds  to  besiege  Wake- 
field, which  soon  capitulated.  While  his  troops  were  still 
surrounding  this  town,  their  commander  left  them  for  some 
days  to  treat  with  Hotham  and  to  bury  his  first  wife,  who  had 

^  She  had  planned  to  come  before,  but  Newcastle  dissuaded  her  until  the 
situation  grew  somewhat  better.    See  Letters  of  Henrietta  Maria,  p.  145. 

2  Gardiner's  History  of  the  Great  Civil  War,  I,  122. 

^  For  an  elaborate  account  of  these  proceedings,  see  First  Duke  and 
Duchess,  pp.  89-98  ;  Welbeck  Mss.,  I,  105-109 ;  and  Clarendon  State  Papers,  II, 
181-183. 


28  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

died  on  April  ly}  The  recently  victorious  Goring  and  Sir 
Francis  Mackworth  —  these  names  were  printed  in  the  margin 
of  the  Life,  but  carefully  inked  out  before  publication  —  were 
left  in  command  at  Wakefield,  while  Newcastle  went  on  to 
fresh  successes  at  Rotherham  and  Sheffield.  The  former  is 
chiefly  notable  because  this  town  was  plundered  contrary  to 
treaty  2  (this,  of  course,  is  unmentioned  by  the  Duchess),  the 
latter  for  some  iron  works  near  by,  which  were  thenceforward 
employed  to  cast  Royalist  cannon.  Shortly  after  came  news 
that  the  Fairfaxes  had  retaken  Wakefield  with  all  its  garrison. 
Newcastle  was  discouraged  as  well  as  angry  and  immediately 
retired  to  York  again.  On  June  4  the  Queen  set  out  for 
Oxford  accompanied  by  an  escort,  which,  as  usual,  Charles 
kept  for  his  own  service.  The  Duchess,  prone  to  overestimate 
her  Lord's  losses  in  the  good  cause,  gives  the  number  as 
7000,  but  it  is  unlikely  that  accurate  figures  would  have 
exceeded  4500  to  5000,^  Her  Majesty  had  difficulty  in  getting 
even  this  number,  for  ''  notre  general  et  tous  les  gentilshommes 
du  pais  sont  centre.  Cette  armee  est  appelee  I'armee  de  la 
royne,  mais  j'ay  bien  petit  pouvoir  et  je  vous  asseure  que,  si 
j'en  avois,  tout  iroit  mieux  qu'il  ne  va."  ^ 

The  third  expedition  to  drive  the  rebels  from  Yorkshire 
was  commenced  this  same  month,  when  Howley  House,  a  well- 
fortified  stone  building,  was  battered  down  by  cannon  and 
captured.  '*  The  governor,  having  quarter  given  him  contrary 
to  my  Lord's  orders,  was  brought  before  my  Lord  by  a  person 
of  quality,  for  which  the  officer  that  brought  him  received  a 
check ;  and  though  he  resolved  then  to  kill  him,  yet  my  Lord 
would  not  suffer  him  to  do  it,  saying,  it  was  inhuman  to  kill 

1  Letters  of  Henrietta  Maria,  p.  i88 ;  and  Firth,  p.  ii6. 

2  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  268.  See  Rev.  John  Shaw,  Dedication  to  his  sermon, 
"The  Three  Kingdoms  Case,"  in  Yorkshire  Diaries,  1, 136,385  (Surtees  Society). 

8  Letters  of  Henrietta  Maria,  p.  222  ;  and  Firth,  p.  23,  n. 
*  Baillon's  Leitres  inidites  de  Henriette- Marie,  p.  135. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  29 

any  man  in  cold  blood.  Thereupon  the  governor  kissed  the 
key  of  the  house  door,  and  presented  it  to  my  Lord  ;  to  which 
my  Lord  returned  this  answer:  'I  need  it  not,'  said  he,  'for 
I  brought  a  key  along  with  me,  which  yet  I  was  unwilling  to 
use,  until  you  forced  me  to  it.'  "  After  this  victory  Newcastle 
moved  on  to  Bradford,  which  had  previously  given  him  much 
trouble,  but  on  his  way  met  the  enemy  drawn  up  on  Atherton 
or  Adwalton  Moor,  prepared  to  give  battle.  They  had  so  very 
much  the  advantage  of  position  that  for  a  time  success  seemed 
to  be  theirs,  until  Newcastle  rallied  his  troops  and  with  the  aid 
of  his  own  regiment  turned  defeat  into  victory.  Indeed  Adwal- 
ton Moor  was  the  Earl's  most  brilliant  achievement  in  his 
entire  northern  campaign.  The  enemy  fled,  Bradford  was  oc- 
cupied, and  Lady  Fairfax  captured,  although  Newcastle's  unfail- 
ing courtesy  set  her  at  liberty  almost  immediately.  Secondary 
effects  were  even  greater :  Halifax,  Leeds,  and  Wakefield  were 
abandoned  by  the  Parliamentarians,  who  retired  to  Hull,  their 
only  remaining  stronghold  in  Yorkshire.  After  three  attempts, 
then,  Newcastle  had  practically  cleared  the  rebels  from  that 
county  and  was  now  prepared  to  go  on  to  further  activities  in 
other  fields.  The  Duchess  tells  us  that  her  husband  sent  a 
letter  to  the  Governor  of  York  bidding  him  intercept  Fairfax's 
retreat  towards  Hull,  but  a  post's  neglect  prevented  the  com- 
plete annihilation  of  those  fugitives. 

Meanwhile,  as  news  had  come  from  Lincolnshire  of  upris- 
ings there.  General  King  was  sent  down  to  adjust  matters. 
Before  his  arrival,  however,  the  King's  forces  suffered  a  de- 
feat and  their  commander  was  killed,  which  brought  Newcastle 
himself  south  as  well.  His  first  capture  was  Gainsborough, 
a  garrison  but  recently  fallen  to  the  enemy.  The  Earl  of 
Kingston,  its  previous  commander,  was  being  taken  as  pris- 
oner to  Hull  on  a  pinnace,  when  some  of  "  my  Lord's  "  forces 
shot  at  the  pinnace  in  an  effort  to  stop  it  and  killed  Kingston 


30  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

by  mistake.  Our  historian  definitely  places  the  blame  in  re- 
marking that,  ''by  the  way,"  these  forces  were  under  com- 
mand of  Lord  Ethyn !  Another  incident  connected  with  this 
capitulation  was  even  more  unfortunate.  Gainsborough  sur- 
rendered upon  fair  terms,  but,  for  some  reason  or  other,  they 
were  not  carried  out.  The  Duchess,  always  ready  to  explain 
away  anything  disagreeable,  states  that  some  prisoners  in  the 
town  first  began  to  plunder,  after  which  the  besieging  forces 
joined  in,  "  although  it  was  against  my  Lord's  will  and  orders." 
After  having  garrisoned  Gainsborough,  Newcastle  also  occupied 
and  garrisoned  Lincoln  "  with  intention  to  march  towards  the 
south,  which  if  it  had  taken  effect,  would  doubtless  have  made 
an  end  of  that  war." 

But  this  plan  did  not  take  effect,  and  its  failure  was  the 
turning  point  in  Newcastle's  military  career.  His  motives  for 
return  are  so  mixed  as  to  defy  analysis.  The  Duchess,  we  may 
be  sure,  sets  forth  only  defensible  ones,  chiefly  a  persistent 
demand  from  Yorkshire  that  he  come  back  to  drive  the  disturb- 
ing enemy  out  of  Hull.^  On  the  other  hand  we  have  evidence 
that  Newcastle  did  not  care  to  go  south,  where  he  must  subject 
himself  to  a  superior.  Charles  had  repeatedly  desired  his  pres- 
ence ;  witness  Sir  Philip  Warwick's  mission  to  the  north  for 
this  very  purpose  early  in  that  summer.  "But  I  found  him 
very  averse  to  this,  and  perceived  that  he  apprehended  nothing 
more  than  to  be  joined  to  the  king's  army,  or  to  serve  under 
Prince  Rupert;  for  he  designed  himself  to  be  the  man  that 
should  turn  the  scale,  and  to  be  a  self-subsisting  and  distinct 
army  wherever  he  was."^  That  there  was  reason  for  Caven- 
dish's fearing  slights  in  the  south  is  evidenced  by  letters  he  had 
received  from  Captain  John  Hotham  in  the  previous  April :  ^ 

1  This  was  undoubtedly  correct,  for  it  is  corroborated  by  Sir  Henry  Slingsby 
in  his  Diary,  p.  99.  ^  Sir  Philip  Warwick's  Memoirs,  1813,  p.  268. 

'  Welbeck  Mss.,  I,  701.  No  doubt  this  caused  Charles's  reprimand  to  New- 
castle at  that  time,  of  which  we  hear  in  the  Queen's  Letters,  pp.  181,  191-193. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVEJSTDISHE  31 

But  now  to  give  you  a  taste  that  all  is  not  as  you  think  at  Court,  I 
shall  freely  tell  you  this,  that  within  this  four  days  some  very  near 
her  Majesty  spoke  such  words  of  contempt  and  disgrace  of  you  as 
truly  for  my  part  I  could  not  hear  them  repeated  with  patience,  and 
you  will  plainly  see,  if  they  dare  it,  you  will  have  a  successor.  .  .  .  The 
words  were  these :  "  that  you  were  a  sweet  General,  lay  in  bed  until 
eleven  o'clock  and  combed  till  twelve,  then  came  to  the  Queen,  and 
so  the  work  was  done,  and  that  General  King  did  all  the  business." 
They  were  spoken  by  my  Lady  Comwallis  in  the  hearing  of  Mr.  Port- 
ington,  a  fellow  cunning  enough ;  and  this  to  my  father  and  another 
gentleman  with  many  words  of  undervaluing,  which  he  said  were 
spoken  by  others. 

Letters  from  Henrietta  Maria  to  Newcastle  on  June  18  and 
August  1 3  1  show  persistent  demands  on  Charles's  part  for 
Newcastle's  presence,  demands  which  the  Queen  herself  op- 
posed. ''The  truth  is  that  they  envy  your  army,"  she  writes 
under  the  latter  date.  So  it  may  be  seen  that  there  were 
undoubtedly  personal  reasons  why  Newcastle  preferred  to  stay 
in  Yorkshire.  Nevertheless  when  he  had  achieved  the  great 
victory  of  Adwalton  Moor  and  fate  had  brought  him  into 
Lincolnshire,  his  loyalty  perhaps  asserted  itself,  so  that  he  had 
every  intention  of  continuing  to  the  south .2  Then  came  the 
summons  from  Yorkshire  to  return,  and  Newcastle  could  con- 
scientiously send  word  to  Charles,  ''that  it  was  impossible  for 
him  to  comply  with  his  commands  in  marching  with  his  army 
into  the  associated  counties,  for  that  the  gentlemen  of  the 
country,  who  had  the  best  regiments,  and  were  amongst  the 
best  officers,  utterly  refused  to  march,  except  Hull  were  first 
taken ;   and  that  he  had  not  strength  enough  to  march  and 


1  Letters,  pp.  219,  225. 

2  The  King  "  showed  us  letters  from  the  Earl  of  Newcastle,  wherein  he 
offered  to  join  his  Majesty  with  a  detachment  of  4000  horse  and  Sooo  foot, 
if  his  Majesty  thought  fit  to  march  southward,  and  yet  leave  forces  sufficient 
to  guard  the  north  from  any  invasion."  —  Defoe's  Memoirs  of  a  Cavalier. 
George  D.  Sproul,  New  York,  1903,  p.  228. 


32  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

to  leave  Hull  securely  blocked  up."i  This  explanation  was 
deemed  sufficient  by  S.  R.  Gardiner,^  but  we  must  agree  with 
Professor  Firth  ^  that  Newcastle's  withdrawal  had  in  it  some- 
thing of  il  gran  rifitUo. 

Whatever  the  cause,  in  August,  1643,  he  marched  back  to 
the  north,  his  good  fortune  ended.  After  capturing  the  small 
town  of  Beverley,  he  invested  Hull  by  request  of  the  York- 
shire gentry.  They  promised  to  send  ten  thousand  men  for 
that  purpose,  but  no  more  was  heard  of  them,  although  we 
may  be  sure  the  Duchess  chronicles  this  disappointment. 
Sir  Philip  Warwick,^  who  had  been  dispatched  north  again 
at  this  time,  states  that  General  King  was  supposed  to  have 
advised  the  siege.  Warwick  goes  on  to  relate  an  episode  that 
throws  a  good  deal  of  light  on  the  commanding  general  and 
his  way  of  waging  war : 

I  went  down  to  see  his  trenches  and  works,  and  found  (the  season 
having  been  very  wet),  his  men  standing  ancle  deep  in  dirt,  a  great 
distance  from  the  town ;  so,  as  I  conceived,  those  without  were  likelier 
to  rot  than  those  within  to  starve ;  and  by  assault  there  was  not  the 
least  probability  to  carry  it.  Upon  my  return  to  him,  relating  but 
faintly  and  modestly  my  thought,  (for  he  knew  I  had  not  the  least 
part  of  a  soldier  to  warrant  a  discourse  upon  that  subject)  he  merrily 
put  it  off,  saying,  "  You  often  hear  us  called  the  Popish  Army ;  but 
you  see  we  trust  not  in  our  good  works." 

This  siege  began  on  September  2,  but  it  was  raised  on 
October  11,^  which  latter  event  the  Life  attributes  to  the 
Royalist  defeat  at  Winceby  or  Homcastle  in  Lincolnshire. 
The  contributory  cause,  nearer  home,  was  a  successful  sally 
made  by  the   Hull  garrison,   in  which  many  of  Newcastle's 

1  Clarendon,  Book  VII,  §  177.  This  message  must  have  been  sent  before 
the  siege  of  Hull,  despite  Clarendon's  assertion,  which  has  been  a  source  of 
further  error  in  First  Dtike  and  Duchess. 

2  English  Historical  Review,  1887,  pp.  172-173  ;  and  History,  I,  229. 
2  "  Editor's  Preface  "  prefixed  to  the  Life,  p.  xi. 

*  Memoirs,  pp.  294-295.  ^  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  280-281. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  33 

guns  were  taken  and  some  of  his  fortifications  destroyed.^  It 
is  instructive  to  contrast  our  historian's  complete  suppression 
of  this  failure  with  her  full  account  of  an  earlier  sally  that 
was  brilliantly  repelled.  At  all  events  the  siege  was  ended; 
Newcastle  returned  to  York  and  soon  after  was  elevated  by 
Charles  to  a  marquessate.^ 

During  November  he  took  the  field  in  Derbyshire  on  hear- 
ing that  the  Parliamentarians  were  stirring  there.  From  his 
headquarters  at  Chesterfield  in  that  county,  a  force  was  sent 
back  to  York  to  ensure  the  Mayor's  reelection,  for  he  was 
Newcastle's  candidate,  but  not  overpopular  in  the  city.  After 
Wingfield  Manor,  a  small  hostile  garrison,  had  been  taken, 
the  general  marched  on  to  inspect  his  family  estates  at  Bol- 
sover  and  Welbeck.  On  this  occasion  he  tried  to  persuade 
Colonel  Hutchinson  to  surrender  the  garrison  of  Nottingham, 
but  the  attempt  was  unsuccessful  and  the  Duchess  ignores  it.^ 
Again  he  was  called  back  to  York,  however,  this  time  because  a 
great  army  of  Scotch  were  reported  to  be  invading  England. 
Warning  of  this  attack  had  been  given  several  months  before 
by  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton,  but  Newcastle  then  sent  to 
Oxford  for  instructions  and  refused  to  break  the  treaty  with 
Scotland  by  garrisoning  Berwick  or  Carlisle.^  The  Duchess 
does  not  tell  us  about  this  but  makes  much  of  the  Yorkshire- 
men's  further  false  promises  and  of  Cavendish's  difficulty  in 
raising  more  troops.  Colonel  John  Bellasis  was  left  in  charge 
of  York,  while  the  main  army  marched  north  to  Newcastle, 
where  it  arrived  on  February  2,  164 3- 1644.   Just  one  day  later 

^  Welbeck  Mss.,  I,  138.  Mrs.  Hutchinson  says  that  Cavendish  was  "forced 
to  rise  with  loss  and  dishonour  from  the  unyielding  town."  —  Memoirs,  I,  333. 

2  "  By  the  Queen's  interest,  he  is  now,  from  Earl,  made  Marquis,  as  we 
see."  —  Carlyle's  Cromwell,  ed.  S.  C.  Lomas,  I,  131. 

8  Mrs.  Hutchinson's  Memoirs,  I,  288-293  and  369-378  (Appendix). 

*  Warwick,  pp.  296-297  ;  and  Burnet,  Lives  of  the  Hamiltons,  ed.  1852, 
p.  310,  in  Firth,  p.  33,  n.  i. 


34  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

4 

the  Scotch  appeared,  22,000  strong  and  amazed  to  find  the 
town  already  occupied.  Newcastle's  sorties  compelled  them  to 
keep  quartered  up  in  the  hills,  but  consequently  when  the  Duke 
wanted  a  pitched  battle  he  always  had  a  disadvantageous  posi- 
tion. This  campaign  was  well  conducted,  however,  in  spite 
of  trying  conditions  :  the  English  were  far  outnumbered ;  they 
were  comparatively  unaccustomed  to  severe  winter  weather; 
and,  continues  the  Duchess,  ''  there  was  so  much  treachery,^ 
juggling,  and  falsehood  in  my  Lord's  own  army,  that  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  be  successful  in  his  designs  and  under- 
takings." Presently  the  enemy  moved  to  Sunderland,  and 
Newcastle  countered  to  Durham.  This  time  luck  was  with 
him,  for  a  great  snowstorm  prevented  any  interference  with  the 
manoeuvres .2  His  object  was  to  cut  off  the  Scots'  supplies  by 
his  cavalry,  and  so  well  did  he  succeed  that  sometimes  they 
were  entirely  without  meat  or  drink,  while  they  never  had 
more  than  twenty-four  hours'  provisions  on  hand.^  A  minor 
incident  in  this  period  was  the  Earl  of  Montrose's  obtaining 
some  forces  for  an  expedition  into  Scotland ;  the  Duchess  says 
he  was  given  two  hundred  men  by  her  husband,  but  Wishart  ^ 
states  they  were  ''  ad  centum  equites,  sed  equos  strigosos  et 
male  habitos  (non  imperatoris  culpa,  sed  aliorum  invidia)." 

What  the  outcome  of  this  fencing  with  the  Scotch  would 
have  been,  it  is  difficult  to  say,  but  presently  news  came  of 
a  great  misfortune  in  Yorkshire.  Bellasis  was  a  man  of  so 
much  more  valour  than  prudence  that  he  had  attempted  the  de- 
fense of  Shelby,  an  untenable  town.  He  was  defeated  by  the 
Fairfaxes,  his  army  routed,  and  himself  taken  prisoner.  This 
put  an  entirely  different  face  on  the  situation  farther  north,  for 

1  King,  who  was  Newcastle's  most  efficient  general,  was  at  this  time  accused 
of  favoring  his  countrymen,  the  Scotch.    See  Warwick,  pp.  307-308. 

2  John  Willcock's  Life  of  Sir  Henry  Vane  the  Younger^  p.  137. 

3  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  615. 

*  De  Rebus  Auspiciis  Caroli,  1647  ^^-j  chap,  iii,  p.  32. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  35 

now  Newcastle  was  between  two  hostile  armies  and  safety  was 
the  first  consideration.  Consequently,  on  April  13^  he  com- 
menced a  retreat  to  York,  which  was  successfully  accomplished 
in  six  days  despite  the  enemy's  constant  harrying  of  his  rear. 
Next  day  Fairfax  and  Leven  joined  forces  to  besiege  the  city, 
being  later  joined  by  Manchester  with  a  Rebel  army  from  the 
'*  associate  counties."  ^  Newcastle  was  indeed  in  a  sorry  plight 
by  this  time.  For  some  months  past  he  had  been  writing  the 
King  for  reinforcements  against  his  rapidly  increasing  oppo- 
nents, and  the  intrigues  against  him,  of  which  we  have  heard 
something,  must  have  been  a  constant  source  of  discourage- 
ment. It  looks  as  if  he  had  even  threatened  to  resign,  judging 
from  a  significant  royal  letter,  dated  at  Oxford,  April  5  :  ^ 

New  Castell 

By  your  last  dispach  I  perceave  that  the  Scots  are  not  the  only,  or 
(it  may  be  said)  the  least  ennemies  you  contest  withall  at  this  tyme ; 
wherefore  I  must  tell  you  in  a  word  (for  I  have  not  tyme  to  make 
longe  discourses)  you  must  as  much  contem  the  impertinent  or  malitius 
tonges  and  pennes  of  those  that  ar  or  professe  to  be  your  frends,  as 
well  as  you  dispyse  the  sword  of  an  equall  ennemie.  The  trewth  is, 
if  eather  you,  or  my  L.  Ethen  *  leave  my  service,  I  am  sure  (at  least) 
all  the  Northe  (I  speake  not  all  I  thinke)  is  lost.  Remember  all  courage 
is  not  in  fyghting ;  constancy  in  a  good  cause  being  the  cheefe,  and 
the  dispysing  of  slanderus  tonges  and  pennes  being  not  the  least 
ingredient.  I  '1  say  no  more,  but,  let  nothing  disharten  you  from  doing 
that  which  is  most  for  your  owen  honnor,  and  good  of  (the  thought 
of  leaving  your  charge,  being  against  booke) 

Your  most  asseured  reall 

constant  frend 

Charles  R. 

1  April  13,  Old  Style,  bringing  the  juncture  of  Fairfax  and  Leven  on  the 
20th,  O.  S.  Newcastle's  letter  after  this  occurrence  (Warburton's  Prince 
Rupert,  II,  434)  is  dated  April  18,  but  this  is  N.S.,  so  that  there  is  no 
real  contradiction.  2  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  615. 

8  Harleian  Ms.  6g88,  art.  104.  Entirely  in  the  King's  hand.  Reprinted  in 
First  Duke  and  Duchess,  p.  121. 

*  King  seems  to  have  felt  very  deeply  the  charges  of  treachery  which  had 
been  brought  against  him. 


36  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Encouraged  by  such  a  personal  appeal  together  with  promises 
of  present  assistance,  Newcastle,  putting  his  shoulder  to  the 
wheel  afresh,  made  ready  to  defend  York.  First  he  ordered 
his  cavalry  under  Sir  Charles  Lucas  to  Derbyshire  or  Notting- 
hamshire, where  they  might  be  well  quartered  and  best  harass 
the  enemy .1  Then  having  sent  renewed  dispatches  to  Charles, 
he  instituted  a  strict  surveillance  upon  provisions.  Even  with 
this  precaution,  as  months  wore  on,  food  and  ammunition  be- 
gan to  fail,  until  there  came  grateful  news  that  Prince  Rupert 
was  marching  north  to  relieve  the  city.  York  could  not  have 
held  out  much  longer  apparently,  for  in  early  June  we  find 
Newcastle  engaging  the  enemy  in  useless  negotiations,^  that 
with  their  quibblings  and  cross  purposes  could  only  have  been 
meant  to  gain  much-needed  time.  On  the  i6th^  there  occurred 
an  episode  upon  which  the  Duchess  lays  considerable  emphasis : 
a  mine  was  sprung  under  St.  Mary's  Tower,  so  that  numbers 
of  besiegers  could  pour  into  the  Manor  Yard.  For  a  moment 
confusion  ensued,  but  my  Lord  led  his  White-coats  against  the 
invaders  and  repulsed  them,  killing  or  capturing  1500.  As 
a  matter  of  fact  the  assault  had  been  prematurely  hastened 
because  of  jealousies  among  the  Parliamentarians,^  while  their 
actual  loss  was  not  above  300  in  all.^ 

At  last  on  July  i,  when  Rupert's  forces  with  Newcastle's 
own  cavalry,  now  under  the  command  of  Goring,  appeared 
before  York,  the  enemy  withdrew  precipitously.  The  town  was 
saved,  and  if  well  enough  had  been  let  alone,  it  might  have 
been  possible  to  recover  much  lost  ground.    Prince  Rupert, 

1  Clarendon,  Book  VIII,  §  20. 

2  For  the  documents  see  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  624-631. 

8  Gardiner  says  the  17th,  but  it  was  Sunday,  the  i6th.  See  Rushworth,  III, 
ii,  631;  and  Drake's  Eboracum,  I,  202. 

*  Markham's  Fairfax,  p.  148;  and  Baillie  Letters,  II,  195. 

*  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  631.  Slingsby,  who  was  there,  estimates  the  strength 
of  this  storming  party  at  500,  of  whom  200  were  captured.    See  Diary,  p.  109. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  37 

however,  encouraged  by  King  Charles's  ambiguous  commands, 
wished  to  pursue  the  besiegers  that  he  might  defeat  them  in 
a  pitched  battle ;  Newcastle's  advice  was  to  wait  for  reinforce- 
ments from  the  north  or  for  rumored  divisions  among  the 
rebels.^  These  considerations  had  been  discussed  in  dis- 
patches 2  on  the  day  of  Rupert's  arrival  and  the  question  came 
up  again  on  the  morrow,  as  is  vividly  related  in  some  notes  of 
Clarendon's  on  the  northern  campaign  :^ 

The  next  morning  the  Marquis  went  out  of  the  city  to  attend  the 
Prince,  and  found  him  upon  his  march  and  the  enemy  having  placed 
themselves  upon  a  hill ;  and  when  the  Marquis  overtook  the  Prince 
they  both  alighted,  and  after  salutations  went  again  to  horse,  and  the 
Prince  said  "  My  Lord,  I  hope  we  shall  have  a  glorious  day."  So  the 
Earl  asked  whether  he  meant  to  put  it  to  a  day,  and  urged  many  rea- 
sons against  it ;  the  Prince  replied  "  Nothing  venture,  nothing  have  " 
etc.  Several  persons  had  that  morning  reported  that  the  Prince  had 
an  absolute  commission  to  command  those  parts,  and  that  the  Mar- 
quis's power  was  at  an  end.  When  Major-General  King  came  up 
Prince  Rupert  showed  the  Marquis  and  the  Earl  a  paper,  which  he 
said  was  the  draught  of  the  battle,  as  he  meant  to  fight  it,  and  asked 
them  what  they  thought  of  it.  King  answered  "  By  God,  sir,  it  is  very 
fine  in  the  paper,  but  there  is  no  such  thing  in  the  fields."  The  Prince 
replied  "  Not  so  "  etc.  The  Marquis  asked  the  Prince  what  he  would 
do  ?  His  Highness  answered  "  We  will  charge  them  tomorrow  morn- 
ing." My  Lord  asked  him,  whether  he  were  sure  the  enemy  would  not 
fall  on  them  sooner ;  he  answered,  No ;  and  the  Marquis  goes  to  his 
coach  hard  by,  and  calling  for  a  pipe  of  tobacco,  before  he  could  take 
it  the  enemy  charged,  and  instantly  all  the  Prince's  horse  were  routed. 

Thus  began  the  famous  battle  of  Marston  Moor,^  by  which 
northern  England  was  lost  to  Charles's  forces.  The  details  of 
this  fight  may  concern  us  no  more  than  they  do  the  Duchess,^ 

1  Sanford's  Sttidies  and  Illustrations  of  the  Great  Rebellion,  p.  591. 
^  Rupert  and  Newcastle  did  not  meet  till  the  morning  of  the  fight.    See 
Cholmley's  Memorials  in  English  Historical  Review,  April,  1890,  p.  345. 

*  Clarendon  State  Papers,  No.  1085,    Reprinted  by  Firth,  p.  39. 

*  Sometimes  known  as  Hessom  Moor  and  so  called  by  the  Duchess. 

*  A  very  readable  account  is  given  in  Defoe's  Memoirs  of  a  Cavalier,  pp.  252- 
259,  where  Newcastle  is  referred  to  as  "that  always  unfortunate  gentleman." 


38  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

for,  as  we  have  seen,  Newcastle  practically  resigned  his  com- 
mand to  Rupert  and  fought  that  day  as  a  private  gentleman. 
''And  though  several  of  my  Lord's  friends  advised  him  not 
to  engage  in  battle,  because  the  command  (as  they  said)  was 
taken  from  him  :  yet  my  Lord  answered  them  that  happen 
what  would,  he  would  not  shun  to  fight,  for  he  had  no  other 
ambition  but  to  live  and  die  a  loyal  subject  to  his  Majesty." 
He  bore  himself  valiantly  we  may  be  sure,  and  when  he  had 
no  sword  left,  killed  three  men  with  his  page's  half-leaden 
one,  refusing  to  deprive  any  of  the  other  capable  fighters. 

His  White-coats  also  distinguished  themselves,  for  they, 
''  being  veteran  soldiers,  and  accustomed  to  fight,  stood  their 
ground,  and  the  fury  of  that  impression  of  Cromwell,  which 
routed  the  whole  army  besides ;  nor  did  the  danger  nor  the 
slaughter  round  them  make  them  cast  away  their  arms  or  their 
courage ;  but  seeing  themselves  destitute  of  their  friends,  and 
surrounded  by  their  enemies,  they  cast  themselves  into  a  ring, 
where  though  quarter  was  offered  them,  they  gallantly  refused 
it,  and  so  manfully  behaved  themselves,  that  they  slew  more  of 
the  enemy  in  this  particular  fight,  than  they  had  killed  of  them 
before.  At  last  they  were  cut  down,  not  by  the  sword,  but 
showers  of  bullets,  after  a  long  and  stout  resistance,  leaving 
their  enemies  a  sorrowful  victory,  both  in  regard  of  them- 
selves whom  they  would  have  spared,  as  in  the  regard  of  the  loss 
of  the  bravest  men  on  their  own  side,  who  fell  in  assaulting 
them.  A  very  inconsiderable  number  of  them  were  preserved, 
to  be  the  living  monuments  of  that  Brigade's  loyalty  and 
valour."  1  Again,  ''This  sole  regiment,  after  the  day  was  lost, 
having  got  into  a  small  parcel  of  ground  ditched  in,  and  not 
of  easy  access  of  horse,  would  take  no  quarter ;  and  by  mere 
valour,  for  one  whole  hour,  kept  the  troops  of  horse  from 

1  James  Heath's  Chronicle  of  the  Civil  Wars  of  England,  Scotland  and 
Ireland,  1676,  p.  61. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  39 

entering  amongst  them  at  near  push  of  pike :  when  the  horse 
did  enter,  they  would  have  no  quarter,  but  fought  it  out  till 
there  was  not  thirty  of  them  living;  those  whose  hap  it  was 
to  be  beaten  down  upon  the  ground  as  the  troopers  came  near 
them,  though  they  could  not  rise  for  their  wounds,  yet  were 
so  desperate  as  to  get  either  a  pike  or  sword,  or  piece  of  them, 
and  to  gore  the  troopers'  horses,  as  they  came  over  them, 
or  passed  by  them.  Captain  Camby,  then  a  trooper  under 
Cromwell,  and  an  actor,  who  was  the  third  or  fourth  man  that 
entered  amongst  them,  protested  he  never,  in  all  the  fights 
he  was  in,  met  with  such  resolute  brave  fellows,  or  whom 
he  pitied  so  much,  and  said  '  he  saved  two  or  three  against 
their  wills.'  "  ^ 

Newcastle  stuck  to  his  post  till  the  very  end,  but  when  he 
saw  that  all  was  lost,  rode  back  to  York  late  at  night,  with 
his  brother  and  one  or  two  servants.  The  next  day  he  an- 
nounced to  Rupert  that  his  resources  were  at  an  end  and  that 
he  intended  to  leave  the  kingdom ;  "I  will  not  endure  the 
laughter  of  the  court"  is  said 2  to  have  been  his  valediction, 
a  farewell  quite  in  keeping  with  the  character  of  this  Cavalier, 
as  we  have  come  to  know  him. 

The  question  now  arises  whether  Newcastle  was  justified 
in  fleeing  from  England.  The  Duchess,  of  course,  expatiates 
upon  his  devotion  to  the  King  and  the  very  gray  prospects 
before  him  at  home.  She  intimates  that  Rupert  thought  there 
was  sufficient  justification  for  flight,  since  the  Prince  agreed 

1  William  Lilly's  History  of  His  Life  and  Times,  ed.  1822,  pp.  178-180. 
Lilly  also  says  (pp.  177-178)  :  "There  was  some  animosity  at  or  before  the 
fight  betwixt  the  Earl  of  Newcastle  and  Prince  Rupert ;  for  Newcastle  being 
General  of  his  Majesty's  forces  in  the  north,  a  person  of  valour  and  well 
esteemed  in  those  parts,  took  it  not  well  to  have  a  competition  in  his  con- 
cernments: for  if  the  victory  should  fall  on  his  Majesty's  side,  Prince  Rupert's 
forces  would  attribute  it  unto  their  own  General,  viz.  Rupert,  and  give  him 
the  glory  thereof." 

2  Warburton's  Prince  Rupert,  II,  468. 


40  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

to  inform  Charles  that  her  husband  "  had  behaved  himself 
like  an  honest  man,  a  gentleman  and  a  loyal  subject."  That 
he  carried  out  his  promise  may  be  inferred  from  the  King's 
subsequent  letter,  full  of  gratitude  and  affection,  without  a 
single  word  of  criticism  :  ^ 

Right  trusty  and  entirely  beloved  Cousin  and  Councellor  Wee  greete 
you  well.  The  misfortune  of  our  Forces  in  the  North,  wee  know  is 
ressented  as  sadly  by  you  as  the  present  hazard  of  the  losse  of  soe 
considerable  a  porcion  of  this  our  Kingdom  deserves :  which  also 
affects  us  the  more,  because  in  that  losse  so  great  a  proporcion  fals 
upon  your  self ;  whose  loyalty  and  eminent  merit  we  have  ever  held, 
and  shall  still,  in  a  very  high  degree  of  our  royall  esteeme.  And  albeit 
the  distracted  condition  of  our  Affaires  and  Kingdom  will  not  afford 
us  meanes  at  this  present  to  comfort  you  in  your  sufferings,  yet  we 
shall  ever  reteyne  soe  gracious  a  memory  of  your  merit,  as  when  it 
shall  please  God  in  mercy  to  restore  us  to  peace,  it  shalbe  one  of 
our  principall  endeavours  to  consider  how  to  recompense  those  that 
have  with  soe  great  affection  and  courage  as  yourself  assisted  us  in 
the  time  of  our  greatest  necessity  and  troubles.  And  in  the  mean  time 
if  there  be  any  thing  wherein  we  may  expresse  the  reality  of  our  good 
intentions  to  you,  or  the  value  we  have  of  your  person,  we  shall  most 
readily  doe  it  upon  any  occasion  that  shalbe  ministred.  And  soe  we 
bid  you  very  heartily  farewell.  Given  at  our  Court  at  Oxford  the 
28th  day  of  November  1644. 

By  his  Mats  command 

Edw.  Nicholas 

Decidedly  a  Stuart  knew  how  to  reward  and  how  to  promise 
as  well.2 

On  the  other  hand  there  is  room  for  grave  criticism  of 
Newcastle's  flight.  Since  York  itself  held  out  for  nineteen 
days  after  both  commanders  fled,  its  resources  could  not  have 
been  completely  exhausted.^  Rupert  collected  6000  men  and 
joined  Montrose  at  Richmond  ;  *  the  Marquis  might  have  gone 

1  Ellis's  Original  Letters,  Series  I,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  303-304. 

2  The  Queen  also  wrote  to  the  defeated  general  with  no  lack  of  generosity. 
See  Letters  of  Henrietta  Maria,  p.  261. 

8  Heath;  p.  61.  *  Warburton,  II,  470. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  41 

with  them  had  not  his  jealousy  at  being  subordinated  to  a  youth 
of  twenty-two  prevented.  The  truth  is  that  Newcastle  had  been 
supreme  for  so  long,  that  now,  when  success  for  the  Royal 
cause  depended  on  complete  cooperation  among  all  its  sup- 
porters, his  Cavalier  spirit  would  not  admit  of  the  necessary 
team-play.  Lack  of  discipline  is  said  to  have  ruined  the 
Northern  Army,  and  that  may  have  been  a  model  in  little  for 
the  Stuart  cause.  When  a  general  is  courageous,  daring,  and 
spirited,  but  at  the  same  time  jealous,  improvident,  and  unre- 
strained, his  soldiers  will  be  patterned  after  him,  and  his  party 
will  inevitably  suffer  in  the  long  run.  ''  Like  master,  like 
man,"  the  saying  goes,  and  to  push  back  this  comparison 
farther,  in  not  a  few  respects  did  Newcastle  resemble  his 
sovereign ;  they  were  men  of  the  same  generation,  they  had 
been  brought  up  in  much  the  same  environment;  and  when 
the  pinch  came,  they  were  prepared  to  meet  it  in  the  same 
way.  Individual  differences,  with  Charles's  unusual  responsi- 
bilities and  problems,  caused  the  distinctions.  For  while 
both  were  pleasure-loving,  selfish,  and  determined,  the  King 
abounded  in  a  trickery  and  deceit  entirely  foreign  to  the 
nobleman ;  but  while  the  Stuart  fought  to  the  last  ditch  and 
met  his  destruction,  game  to  the  very  end,  the  fair-weather 
Newcastle  turned  his  back  at  the  first  hint  of  misfortune  to 
seek  security  and  peace  amid  more  grateful  surroundings.^ 

That  he  was  not  completely  acquitted  in  his  own  day  is 
plain  from  contemporary  evidence.  Shortly  after  the  event 
John  Constable  wrote  to  his  father,  Sir  Henry,  Viscount  Dun- 
bar, from  Amsterdam: 2  ''For  the  news  that  is  here  stirring, 

1  It  is  rather  amusing  to  find  Newcastle  fifteen  years  later  (January  23,  1659) 
writing  to  Nicholas :  "  There  are  many  noblemen,  or  at  least  lords,  that  are 
comed  over  to  Paris  it  is  true,  but  those  lords  that  can  take  such  sudden 
apprehensions  of  fears  so  far  off,  I  doubt  will  hardly  have  the  courage  to  help 
our  gracious  Master  to  his  throne."  —  Letter  in  Egerton  Mss.,  Firth,  p.  207. 

2  Calendar  of  State  Papers  {Domestic).,  1644,  Charles  I,  p.  378. 


42  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

first  Prince  Rupert  is  here  mightily  condemned  for  his  rash- 
ness, but  the  Marquis  of  Newcastle  much  more  for  coming 
away."  Again,  before  leaving  England,  the  Marquis  spent 
two  days  with  Sir  Hugh  Cholmley,  Governor  of  Scarborough, 
who  told  him  quite  significantly,  ^  ''  that  for  my  own  part, 
though  the  place  was  in  no  defensible  posture,  I  meant  not  to 
surrender  till  I  heard  from  the  King,  or  was  forced  to  it." 
Finally  Clarendon  lays  his  share  of  obloquy  on  the  delinquent 
and  in  the  course  of  the  attack  launches  into  one  of  his  famous 
character-portraits,  which  is  easily  the  most  important  single 
testimony  as  to  Newcastle  that  we  have :  ^ 

This  may  be  said  of  it,  that  the  like  was  never  done  or  heard  or 
read  of  before ;  that  two  generals  whereof  one  had  still  a  good  army 
left,  his  horse,  by  their  not  having  performed  their  duty,  remaining, 
upon  the  matter,  entire,  and  much  the  greater  part  of  his  foot 
having  retired  into  the  town,  the  great  execution  having  fallen  upon 
the  northern  foot ;  and  the  other,  having  the  absolute  commission  over 
the  northern  countries,  and  very  many  considerable  places  in  them 
still  remaining  under  his  obedience,  should  both  agree  in  nothing  else 
but  in  leaving  that  good  city  and  the  whole  country  as  a  prey  to  the 
enemy.  .  .  . 

r  All  that  can  be  said  for  the  marquis  is,  that  he  was  so  utterly  tired 
1  with  a  condition  and  employment  so  contrary  to  his  humour,  nature 
and  education,  that  he  did  not  at  all  consider  the  means  or  the  way 
that  would  let  him  out  of  it,  and  free  him  forever  from  having  more 
to  do  with  it.  And  it  was  a  greater  wonder  that  he  sustained  the  vex- 
ation and  fatigue  of  it  so  long,  than  that  he  broke  from  it  with  so 
little  circumspection.  He  was  a  very  fine  gentleman,  active  and  full 
of  courage,  and  most  accomplished  in  those  qualities  of  horsemanship, 
dancing,  and  fencing,  which  accompany  a  good  breeding;  in  which 
his  delight  was.  Besides  that,  he  was  amorous  in  poetry  and  music, 
to  which  he  indulged  the  greatest  part  of  his  time ;  and  nothing  could 
have  tempted  him  out  of  those  paths  of  pleasure  which  he  enjoyed  in 
a  full  and  ample  fortune,  but  honour  and  ambition  to  serve  the  King 
when  he  saw  him  in  distress,  and  abandoned  by  most  of  those  who 

1  Memoirs  of  Sir  Hugh  Cholmley,  1787,  I,  50. 

2  Clarendon,  Book  VIII,  §§  -](>,  82,  85,  86,  87. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  43 

were  in  the  highest  degree  obliged  to  him  and  by  him.  He  loved 
monarchy,  as  it  was  the  foundation  and  support  of  his  own  greatness ; 
and  the  Church,  as  it  was  well  constituted  for  the  splendour  and  secu- 
rity of  the  Crown ;  and  religion,  as  it  cherished  and  maintained  that 
order  and  obedience  that  was  necessary  to  both ;  without  any  other 
passion  for  the  particular  opinions  which  were  grown  up  in  it  and  dis- 
tinguished it  into  parties,  than  as  he  detested  whatsoever  was  like  to 
disturb  the  public  peace.  .  .  } 

He  liked  the  pomp  and  absolute  authority  of  a  general  well,  and 
preserved  the  dignity  of  it  to  the  full ;  and  for  the  discharge  of  the 
outward  state  and  circumstances  of  it,  in  acts  of  courtesy,  affability, 
bounty  and  generosity,  he  abounded ;  which  in  the  infancy  of  a  war 
became  him,  and  made  him  for  some  time  very  acceptable  to  men  of 
all  conditions.  But  the  substantial  part,  and  fatigue  of  a  general,  he 
did  not  in  any  degree  understand,  (being  utterly  unacquainted  with 
war,)  nor  could  submit  to,  but  referred  all  matters  of  that  nature  to  the 
discretion  of  his  lieutenant  general  King,  who,  no  doubt,  was  an  officer 
of  great  experience  and  ability,  yet,  being  a  Scotsman,  was  in  that 
conjuncture  upon  more  disadvantage  than  he  would  have  been  if  the 
general  himself  had  been  more  intent  upon  his  command.  In  all  actions 
of  the  field  he  was  still  present,  and  never  absent  in  any  battle ;  in  all 
which  he  gave  instances  of  an  invincible  courage  and  fearlessness  in 
danger;  in  which  the  exposing  himself  notoriously  did  sometimes 
change  the  fortune  of  the  day  when  his  troops  begun  to  give  ground. 
Such  articles  of  action  were  no  sooner  over  than  he  retired  to  his 
delightful  company,  music,  or  his  softer  pleasures,  to  all  which  he  was 
so  indulgent,  and  to  his  ease,  that  he  would  not  be  interrupted  upon 
what  occasion  soever ;  insomuch  as  he  sometimes  denied  admission  to 
the  chiefest  officers  of  the  army,  even  to  general  King  himself,  for  two 
days  together ;  from  whence  many  inconveniences  fell  out. 

From  the  beginning,  he  was  without  any  reverence  or  regard  for 
the  Privy  Council,  with  few  of  whom  he  had  any  acquaintance ;  but 
was  of  the  other  soldiers'  mind,  that  all  the  business  ought  to  be  done 
by  councils  of  war,  and  was  always  angry  when  there  were  any  over- 
tures of  a  treaty ;  and  therefore,  (especially  after  the  Queen  had  landed 
in  Yorkshire  and  stayed  so  long  there,)  he  considered  any  orders  he 
received  from  Oxford,  though  from  the  King  himself,  more  negligently 
than  he  ought  to  have  done;  and  when  he  thought  himself  sure  of 

1  Cf.  the  opinion  of  George  Con,  the  Jesuit,  in  Gardiner's  History  of  Eng- 
land, 1603-1642,  Vni,  244.  Also  see  M.  Montegut  in  La  Duchesse  et  U  Due  de 
Newcastle,  pp.  279-283. 


44  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Hull,  and  was  sure  that  he  should  be  then  master  entirely  of  all  the 
north,  he  had  no  mind  to  march  nearer  the  King,  (as  he  had  then  orders 
to  march  into  the  associated  counties,  when,  upon  the  taking  of  Bristol, 
his  majesty  had  a  purpose  to  have  marched  towards  London  on  the 
other  side,)  out  of  apprehension  that  he  should  be  eclipsed  by  the  Court, 
and  his  authority  overshadowed  by  the  superiority  of  prince  Rupert, 
from  whom  he  desired  to  be  at  distance.  Yet  when  he  found  himself 
in  distress,  and  necessitated  to  draw  his  army  within  the  walls  of  York, 
and  saw  no  way  to  be  relieved  but  by  prince  Rupert,  who  had  then 
done  great  feats  of  arms  in  the  relief  of  Newark,  and  afterwards  in  his 
expedition  into  Lancashire,  where  he  was  at  that  time,  he  writ  to  the 
King  to  Oxford,  either  upon  the  knowledge  that  the  absoluteness  and 
illimitedness  of  his  commission  was  generally  much  spoken  of,  or  out 
of  the  conscience  of  some  discourse  of  his  own  to  that  purpose,  which 
might  have  been  reported,  that  he  "  hoped  his  majesty  did  believe  that 
he  would  never  make  the  least  scruple  to  obey  the  grandchild  of  King 
James  "  :  and  assuredly  if  the  prince  had  cultivated  the  good  inclinations 
the  marquis  had  towards  him,  with  any  civil  and  gracious  condescen- 
sions, he  would  have  found  him  full  of  duty  and  regard  to  his  service 
and  interest. 

But  the  strange  manner  of  the  prince's  coming,  and  undeliberated 
throwing  himself,  and  all  the  King's  hopes,  into  that  sudden  and 
unnecessary  engagement,  by  which  all  the  force  the  marquis  had  raised 
and  with  so  many  difficulties  preserved  was  in  a  moment  cast  away  and 
destroyed,  so  transported  him  with  passion  and  despair,  that  he  could 
not  compose  himself  to  think  of  beginning  the  work  again,  and  involv- 
ing himself  in  the  same  undelightful  condition  of  life,  from  which  he 
might  now  be  free.  He  hoped  his  past  meritorious  actions  might  out- 
weigh his  present  abandoning  the  thought  of  future  action ;  and  so, 
without  farther  consideration,  as  hath  been  said,  he  transported  himself 
out  of  the  kingdom. 

II 

"  THE  SECOND  BOOK  "  (1644-1667) 

The  Second  Book  of  the  Life  deals  with  Newcastle's  sixteen 
years  of  exile  and  his  return  at  their  completion.  The  prevalent 
atmosphere  is  indicated  at  once,  when  his  steward  tells  him 
there  is  only  fyo  with  which  to  adventure.    From  then  on,  the 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  45 

question  of  money  became  a  pressing  and  predominant  one, 
for  our  Cavalier  had  no  conception  of  how  to  economize.  He 
had  been  accustomed  all  his  life  to  have  everything  he  could 
desire,  nor  are  the  habits  of  years  easily  broken.  Certainly 
Newcastle  was  not  experienced  in  the  art  of  self-denial,  so  that 
his  existence  became  a  continual  struggle  to  provide  the  where- 
withal for  his  comfort.  Borrowing  on  insufficient  security, 
cajoling  creditors  by  his  pleasing  manners,  robbing  Peter  to 
pay  Paul,  he  soon  became  an  adept  in  how  to  live  on  nothing 
a  year.  Upon  his  first  arrival  in  Germany,  a  wagon  had  to  serve 
him  for  a  coach,  until  credit  procured  an  elegant  carriage  and 
nine  Holsatian  horses.  Seven  of  these  were  later  given  to 
Henrietta  Maria,  but  from  this  time,  at  least  two  horses  were 
always  an  essential  part  of  his  establishment;  and  it  is  to  be 
noted  that  even  when  in  dire  straits  the  fine  gentleman  could 
not  forgo  some  kind  of  conveyance  nor  be  expected  to  take 
to  the  legs  with  which  Nature  had  provided  him. 

On  July  4,  1644,  Newcastle  set  sail  from  Scarborough  and 
four  days  later  landed  at  Hamburg.  With  him  were  his  two 
sons,  his  brother,  and  a  company  of  Royalists,  among  them 
General  King,  who  is  said  to  have  counselled  the  flight.^  On 
the  voyage  his  oldest  son  Charles,  Lord  Mansfield,  fell  sick  of 
the  smallpox,  and  not  long  after  Henry,  the  younger  brother, 
had  an  attack  of  measles,  but  both  recovered.  From  July,  1644, 
to  February,  1644- 164  5,  the  Marquis  remained  at  Hamburg, 
thence  setting  out  for  Paris  that  he  might  present  his  respects 
to  the  exiled  Queen.  He  took  boat  to  Amsterdam,  and,  from 
there  on,  his  journey  assumed  the  nature  of  a  triumphal  prog- 
ress. At  Rotterdam  he  tendered  his  service  to  the  Prince 
of  Orange  and  to  the  Queen  of  Bohemia  (in  whose  honor 
Wotton  wrote,  "  You  meaner  Beauties  of  the  Night ") ;  at 
Brussels  he  was  visited  by  the  Marquis  of  Castle  Rodrigo 

1  This  statement  is  made  by  Sir  Hugh  Cholmley.    See  Firth,  p.  42. 


46  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

and  Count  Piccolomini ;  at  Cambray  and  Peronne  he  gave  the 
watchword  for  the  night.  Arrived  at  Paris  in  April,  he  went  to 
wait  on  Henrietta  Maria,  when  for  the  first  time  he  laid  eyes 
upon  Margaret  Lucas,  a  lovely  girl  of  about  twenty-two,  *'  I 
being  then  one  of  the  Maids  of  Honour  to  her  Majesty;  and 
after  he  had  stayed  there  some  time,  he  was  pleased  to  take 
some  particular  notice  of  me,  and  express  more  than  an  ordi- 
nary affection  for  me ;  insomuch  that  he  resolved  to  choose 
me  for  his  second  wife.  For  he,  having  but  two  sons,  pur- 
posed to  marry  me,  a  young  woman  that  might  prove  fruitful 
to  him,  and  increase  his  posterity  by  a  masculine  offspring. 
Nay,  he  was  so  desirous  of  male  issue  that  I  have  heard  him 
say  he  cared  not  (so  God  would  be  pleased  to  give  him  many 
sons)  although  they  came  to  be  persons  of  the  meanest 
fortunes ;  but  God  (it  seems)  had  ordered  it  otherwise,  and 
frustrated  his  designs  by  making  me  barren,  which  yet  did 
never  lessen  his  love  and  affection  for  me." 

Margaret  Lucas  was  born  at  St.  John's  near  Colchester  in 
Essex  "about  the  latter  end  of  the  reign  of  King  James  the 
first,"  ^  as  it  has  been  the  custom  for  her  biographers  to  say. 
This  assertion  comes  presumably  from  her  own  remark  that  when 
her  father  died  (September  25,  1625)  she  was  still  an  infant, 
and  indeed  farther  than  this  it  is  difficult  to  go  with  security. 
Those  of  a  more  exact  turn  of  mind  have  guessed  the  year  1624, 
but  an  interrogation  mark  has  been  necessary  after  that  date .2 
A  twelvemonth  earlier  seems  even  more  likely.  We  know  that 
her  death  occurred  on  December  15,  1673,  and  the  most  nearly 
contemporary  evidence  is  that  of  Anthony  a  Wood,  who  states 
that  she  was  fifty  years  old  at  that  time.^  Cokayne  remarks 
that  she  died  in  her  fifty-seventh  year,^  but  that  would  run  her 

1  Ballard's  Memoirs  of  British  Ladies,  p.  209. 

2  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.,  which  gives  her  death  as  1674. 

8  The  article  on  Walter  Charleton  in  Athence  Oxonienses,  Vol.  IV,  Col.  755. 
*  Also  Cokayne  puts  their  marriage  in  April  instead  of  December,  1645. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  47 

birth  back  to  161 7,  too  early  for  her  to  have  been  an  infant 
in  1625,  or  such  a  very  "young  woman"  twenty  years  later. 
]\Ioreover,  in  her  Poems  and  Fancies ,  when  telling  her  own 
story  under  the  likeness  of  a  ship,  Margaret  writes,  that 

In  a  calm  of  peace  she  swims  alone, 

No  stormes  of  war  at  that  time  thought  upon 

But  when  that  she  had  past  nineteen  degrees 

The  land  of  happiness  she  no  longer  sees 

For  then  rebellious  clouds  foule  black  did  grow, 

And  showers  of  blood  into  those  seas  did  throw.  ^ 

The  rebellion  broke  out  in  1642,  and  taking  her  simile  at  its 
face  value,  1623  may  be  accepted  tentatively  as  the  year  of 
her  birth,  although  as  yet  we  have  no  absolutely  conclusive 
testimony .2  Her  early  life  was  all  spent  in  the  quiet  home 
circle,  until  she  left  for  Oxford  to  become  a  lady-in-waiting  at 
Henrietta  Maria's  court.  Here  again  we  find  a  confusion  as 
to  dates.  The  Queen  joined  Charles  from  the  north  on  July  13, 
1643,  and  was  with  him  for  nine  months,  till  April,  1644, 
within  which  period  the  future  Duchess  must  have  become 
attached  to  her  Majesty.  Historians  have  generally  assigned 
this  event  to  the  former  year,  but  unless  they  are  reckoning 
Old  Style,  it  seems  more  likely  to  have  occurred  in  the  latter, 
for  in  Margaret's  autobiography  the  attendant  circumstances 
are  related.  It  appears  that  she  cajoled  her  mother  into  letting 
her  go  to  court,  but  once  there  she  was  so  overcome  by 
modesty  that  she  wished  to  return  home  at  once.  "  But  my 
mother  said  it  would  be  a  disgrace  for  me  to  return  out  of  the 
Court  so  soon  after  I  was  placed ;  so  I  continued  almost  two 
years,  until  such  time  as  I  was  married  from  thence."^  As 
we  have  seen,  the  love  affair  commenced  about  April,  and  it 

1  1653  ed.,  pp.  155-156. 

2  This  year  is  also  assumed  in  an  article  on  "  The  Duchess  of  Newcastle, 
and  her  VVorks"  in  The  Retrospective  Review,  1853,  I,  334. 

3  From  A  True  Relation ^  Firth,  p.  162. 


48  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

reached  a  happy  ending  in  December,  1645.  If,  then,  we  are  to 
trust  the  Duchess  concerning  events  in  her  own  Hfe,  she  could 
not  have  gone  to  Oxford  before  the  end  of  December,  1643. 
"The  marquis  had  before  heard  of  this  lady,  for  he  was  a 
patron  and  friend  of  her  gallant  brother,  lord  Lucas,  who  com- 
manded under  him  in  the  civil  wars.  He  took  occasion  one 
day  to  ask  his  lordship  what  he  could  do  for  him,  as  he  had 
his  interest  much  at  heart?  To  which  he  answered,  that  he 
was  not  sollicitous  about  his  own  affairs,  for  he  knew  the  worst 
could  be  but  suffering  death  or  exile  in  the  Royal  cause,i  but 
his  chief  sollicitude  was  for  his  sister,  on  whom  he  could  be- 
stow no  fortune,  and  whose  beauty  exposed  her  to  danger  : 
he  represented  her  amiable  qualities,  and  raised  the  marquis's 
curiosity  to  see  her,  and  from  that  circumstance  arose  the  mar- 
quis's affection  to  this  lady."^  Even  with  this  auspicious  start, 
the  course  of  true  love  did  not  run  with  especial  smoothness, 
as  at  first  their  friends  tried  to  break  off  the  match  and  after- 
wards the  Queen  proved  an  obstacle ;  but  finally  Newcastle 
triumphed  over  circumstances,  so  that  they  were  married  at 
Sir  Richard  Browne's  chapel^  early  in  December.  On  the 
20th  Madam  Lucas  wrote  her  new  son-in-law  with  every  evi- 
dence of  approbation  and  satisfaction.^  She  regretted,  how- 
ever, that  the  bad  times  prevented  Margaret's  bringing  him 
a  suitable  portion. 

The  dowry  would  have  been  very  welcome,  since  Newcastle 
was  entirely  without  funds.  Now  there  were  two  mouths  for 
him  to  fill  in  no  more  substantial  a  way  than  by  the  good 
nature  of  his  creditors ;  ''yet  they  grew  weary  at  length,  inso- 
much that  his  steward  was  forced  one  time  to  tell  him  that  he 
was  not  able  to  provide  a  dinner  for  him,  for  his  creditors 

1  He  was  shot  on  August  28,  1648,  by  sentence  of  court  martial  after  the 
surrender  of  Colchester.  ^  Gibber's  Lives  of  the  Poets,  II,  163. 

8  Evelyn's  Diary,  ed.  Wheatley,  II,  217.  *  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  137. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  49 

were  resolved  to  trust  him  no  longer.  My  Lord  being  always 
a  great  master  of  his  passions,  was  —  at  least  showed  himself 
—  not  in  any  manner  troubled  at  it,  but  in  a  pleasant  humour 
told  me  that  I  must  of  necessity  pawn  my  clothes  to  make  so 
much  money  as  would  procure  a  dinner.  I  answered  that  my 
clothes  would  be  but  of  small  value,  and  therefore  desired  my 
waiting-maid  to  pawn  some  small  toys  which  I  had  formerly 
given  her,  which  she  willingly  did.  The  same  day,  in  the 
afternoon,  my  Lord  spake  himself  to  his  creditors,  and  both 
by  his  civil  deportment  and  persuasive  arguments,  obtained 
so  much  that  they  did  not  only  trust  him  for  more  necessaries, 
but  lent  him  money  besides  to  redeem  those  toys  that  were 
pawned."  In  these  extremities  the  Marchioness  sent  home 
for  her  wedding  portion  and  her  husband  tried  to  get  aid  from 
England,  —  in  vain,  because  he  had  been  publicly  proclaimed 
a  traitor  by  Parliament.  His  two  sons  were  also  dispatched 
across  the  Channel  to  join  their  sisters,  in  hopes  of  contracting 
rich  marriages,  and  in  that  way  becoming  independent.^  By 
these  (and  doubtless  other  similar)  precautions,  affairs  mended  so 
in  two  years'  time  that  the  Newcastles  were  enabled  to  move  from 
lodgings  to  a  rented  house,  which  they  themselves  furnished ; 
likewise  the  Marquis  procured  two  Barbary  horses  to  exercise 
in  the  art  of  manage,  one  at  a  cost  of  200  pistoles,  the  other 
from  Lord  Crofts  for  ^100,  payable  on  his  return  to  England. 
Meanwhile  Newcastle  kept  in  touch  with  the  Royalist  move- 
ments. At  a  council  of  war  in  Saint  Germains  he  gave  it  as 
his  advice  that  assistance  must  come  from  Scotland,  ''but  her 
Majesty  was  pleased  to  answer  my  Lord  that  he  was  too 
quick."  Shortly  after.  Prince  Charles  took  it  into  his  head 
to  visit  Holland,  and  the  Queen  requested  Newcastle  to  follow 
his  former  pupil,  who  presumably  needed  supervision.    There 

1  The  boys  did  not  undertake  those  rich  matches  which  had  been  offered 
to  Newcastle,  but  both  married  advantageously  later  on. 


so  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

was  considerable  difficulty  about  getting  the  creditors'  permis- 
sion for  him  to  leave  Paris,  but  much  giving  and  taking  of 
bonds  procured  the  desired  result.  Henrietta  Maria  took  his 
obligations  on  herself,  which  was  no  small  favor  as  she  had 
already  given  him  outright  ^2000  sterling.  He  left  the  city 
in  the  third  week  of  July,  1648,1  and  "that  day  ...  the 
creditors,  coming  to  take  their  farewell  of  my  Lord,  expressed 
so  great  a  love  and  kindness  for  him,  accompanied  with  so 
many  hearty  prayers  and  wishes,  that  he  could  not  but  prosper 
on  his  journey."  Along  the  way  he  received  great  hospitality, 
notably  at  Cambray,  where  the  Governor  handed  over  the 
keys  of  the  city  and  requested  him  to  give  the  word  that  night, 
as  he  had  done  on  his  previous  visit.  Rotterdam  was  settled 
on  as  a  residing-place,  whither  Newcastle  sailed  from  Antwerp 
and  where  he  procured  lodgings  with  a  loyal  widow,  Mrs. 
Beynham  by  name.  Prince  Charles  had  gone  to  sea,  so  that  the 
Marquis  equipped  a  boat  and  prepared  to  follow  him  but 
was  dissuaded  by  his  wife's  fears.  Lord  Widdrington^  and 
Sir  William  Throckmorton  undertook  the  task,  and  were  ship- 
wrecked on  the  coast  of  Scotland  for  their  pains.  Later,  news 
came  that  Charles  was  at  The  Hague,  where  Newcastle  fre- 
quently attended  him  until  some  time  in  January,  1648- 1649. 
Then,  after  nearly  six  months  in  Rotterdam,  he  decided  to 
move  to  Antwerp,  actuated  chiefly  by  motives  of  economy. 
For  in  the  Dutch  city  he  had  kept  open  house,  that  he  might 
gain  recruits  to  the  Stuart  cause,  and  had  plunged  himself 
more  than  ;£3000  in  debt  during  that  short  period.  What 
was  worse,  he  had  but  little  ready  money  to  hand,  so  that 
seeing  small  possibility  of  a  return  to  England  he  resolved  to 

1  See  a  letter  of  Sir  Richard  Browne  in  Evelyn's  Diaty,  IV,  340. 

2  Lord  Widdrington  had  been  made  a  peer  on  the  recommendation  of 
Newcastle,  "  for  whom  he  had  a  very  particular  and  entire  friendship."  They 
fought  together  and  were  together  in  exile  for  many  years.  See  Clarendon, 
Book  XIII,  §  69. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  51 

retrench  and  live  as  became  a  private  gentleman.  A  change 
of  milieu  was  also  desirable,  no  doubt,  to  one  so  dependent 
upon  credit,  —  at  all  events  it  was  determined  to  shift  to 
Antwerp.  Here  the  Marquis  and  his  lady  first  stopped  at 
a  public  inn,  until  Mr.  Endymion  Porter  insisted  on  their 
taking  lodgings  in  his  house,  which  they  ultimately  left  for 
an  establishment  of  their  own.  Another  exiled  Cavalier, 
Mr.  William  Aylesbury,  lent  them  ;£200  of  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham's,  thus  enabling  them  to  fit  out  their  new  home 
and  establish  the  credit  so  indispensable  to  their  mode  of  exist- 
ence. Thanks  to  these  favorable  circumstances,  Newcastle's 
exemption  from  taxes,  ^  and  the  increase  of  English  exiles 
after  Charles  I's  execution  on  January  30,  Antwerp  became 
a  very  pleasant  place  in  which  to  reside.  When  they  first 
arrived,  there  were  only  four  coaches  that  *'  went  the  Tour,"  i.e. 
drove  "where  all  the  chief  of  the  town  go  to  see  and  be  seen, 
likewise  all  strangers  of  what  quality  soever,  as  all  great  princes 
or  queens  that  make  any  short  stay  ";2  yet  at  the  end  of  their 
sojourn  there  were  more  than  a  hundred  equipages  in  that 
city.  All  the  members  of  the  Royalist  colony  were  equally 
impecunious,  of  course,  but  they  made  light  of  their  misfor- 
tunes and  even  got  some  merriment  out  of  them.  A  vivid 
account  of  this  society  is  given  in  a  letter  of  Newcastle's 
which  was  intercepted  in  its  passage  and  published  in  a  con- 
temporary newspaper :  ^ 

None  will  lend  me  two  shillings  here,  but  flye  me  and  know  not 
how  to  put  bread  into  my  mouth,  as  if  I  was  the  arrantest  knave  and 
Rogue  in  the  World,  I  vow  to  God  the  ridiculousness  of  it  makes  me 
laugh  heartily.  .  .  .  Againe  to  pass  the  time  away  withall,  my  Lord 
Bishop  of  Derry,  my  Lady  Oneale  and  my  selfe  gravely  set  in  Councel, 

*  See  Calendar  of  Clarendon  Papers,  III,  154. 
2  From  A  True  Relation,  Firth,  p.  173. 

*  Several  Proceedings  in  Parliament,  September  18-2^,  i6ji.    Reprinted  in 
Firth,  p.  205. 


52  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

as  wise  and  provident  Parents  to  provide  the  best  we  could  for  our 
children,  agreed  upon  a  Match  between  my  son  Harry  and  her  daugh- 
ter, and  gravely  articled,  bought  eighteen  pennyworth  of  Ribond  for 
the  wooing,  the  old  Lady  a  lean  Chicken  in  a  Pipkin  for  the  Dinner, 
with  three  preserved  Cherries  and  5  drops  of  Syrup  by  them  for  the 
banquet.  One  wiser  than  the  rest  asked  how  it  should  be  performed, 
which  our  wisdomes  never  thought  of  before,  so  when  my  estate  was 
examined,  besides  the  Parliaments  selling  of  it.  That  my  debts  were  so 
great  with  what  was  intailed  upon  my  Son  Charles  as  I  could  estate 
nothing.  The  old  Lady  was  very  angry  at  that,  but  I  had  more  reason 
than  modesty,  I  examined  her,  having  examined  old  Ladies  in  my 
time,  and  found  she  had  as  little.  So  the  times  have  broke  that  grave 
intention  —  yet  the  joynture  and  portion  being  alike  one  might  think 
it  might  go  on.  And  so  Harry  is  a  lusty  Batchelor  begging  homeward 
for  England,  but  the  young  lady  truly  is  very  deserving  and  vertuous. 

Newcastle  also  got  unbounded  pleasure  from  training  the 
two  Barbary  horses  he  had  procured  in  Paris,  until  one  of 
them  died.  Thereupon  he  gradually  replenished  his  stock 
till  they  numbered  eight  in  all,  although  it  may  well  be  re- 
marked that  this  was  not  in  accordance  with  strict  economy. 
However,  the  Cavalier's  luxuries  were  not  to  be  lightly  for- 
gone, and,  as  his  wife  had  heard  him  say,  ''  good  horses 
are  so  rare  as  not  to  be  valued  for  money,  and  that  he  who 
would  buy  him  out  of  his  pleasure  (meaning  his  horses)  must 
pay  dear  for  it."  She  goes  on  to  give  specific  examples,  as 
when  he  told  a  prospective  buyer  ''  that  the  price  of  that  horse 
is  ;£iooo  today,  tomorrow  it  will  be  ;£2000,  next  day  ^3000, 
and  so  forth."  Another  time  the  Duke  of  Guise  sent  an  offer 
of  600  pistoles  from  Paris  for  a  certain  jumping  gray,^  ''but 
my  Lord  was  so  far  from  selling  that  horse,  that  he  was  dis- 
pleased to  hear  that  any  price  should  be  offered  to  him  :  so 
great  a  love  hath  my  Lord  for  good  horses !  And  certainly  I 
have  observed  and  do  verily  believe,  that  some  of  them  had 

1  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Duke  tells  us  in  A  New  Method  and  Extraordi- 
nary Invention  that  this  horse  was  dead  by  the  time  the  offer  came,  but  the 
Duchess's  remark  is  none  the  less  pertinent. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  53 

also  a  particular  love  to  my  Lord ;  for  they  seemed  to  rejoice 
whensoever  he  came  into  the  stables,  by  their  trampling  action, 
and  the  noise  they  made ;  nay,  they  would  go  much  better  in 
the  manage,  when  my  Lord  was  by,  than  when  he  was  absent ; 
and  when  he  rid  them  himself,  they  seemed  to  take  much 
pleasure  and  pride  in  it.  But  of  all  sorts  of  horses,  my  Lord 
loved  Spanish  horses  and  barbs  best;  saying  that  Spanish 
horses  were  like  princes,  and  barbs  like  gentlemen  in  their 
kind.i  And  this  was  the  chief  recreation  and  pastime  my  Lord 
had  in  Antwerp."  ' 

Meanwhile  important  political  events  were  going  on,  which, 
following  the  Duchess's  example,  we  shall  mention  only  in  so 
far  as  they  affected  her  husband.  She  does  not  even  allude  to 
Charles  Fs  death,  but  we  soon  hear  of  ''  His  Majesty  (our  new 
gracious  King,  Charles  the  Second)."  Before  the  new  sover- 
eign sailed  for  Scotland,  he  held  some  negotiations  at  Breda 
in  the  spring  of  1650,  to  which  Newcastle,  soon  to  be  a 
Knight  of  the  Garter,  was  admitted  as  privy-councillor,  and 
where  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  ''  customary  swearing."  ^ 
He  agreed  with  Charles  that  an  alliance  with  the  Scotch  must 
be  made  at  all  costs  and  advised  him  to  favor  the  Earl  of 
Argyle's  party,  while  attempting  to  reconcile  that  noble  with 
the  Duke  of  Hamilton.  Newcastle  wished  to  accompany  his 
King,  but  the  Scots  absolutely  refused  to  permit  it ;  and  per 
consequenciam,    as    the    Duchess    intimates,    this    expedition 

1  In  "To  the  Readers,"  prefixed  to  A  New  Method  and  Extraordinary 
Invention^  Newcastle  says  this  same  remark  was  repeated  to  Don  John  of 
Austria :  "  Which  answer  did  infinitely  please  the  Spaniards ;  and  it  is  very 
true,  the  horses  are  so  as  I  said." 

2  On  April  6  according  to  Doyle  (II,  557),  and  there  is  no  real  contradic- 
tion with  Nicholas's  letter  in  Carte's  Original  Letters,  I,  376,  which  is  dated 
April  3/13,  i.e.  April  13,  Old  Style.  Firth  falls  into  error  here.  For  the 
swearing  incident,  see  Calendar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers,  II,  54.  He  was 
elected  to  the  Garter  on  January  12,  1651-1652  (Collins,  p.  41),  but  not  installed 
until  April  15,  1 661. 


54  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

resulted  in  total  failure.  Certainly  the  Marquis's  counsel  was 
not  carried  out,  for  Argyle  grew  discontented  and  Hamilton 
alone  marched  with  Charles  into  England.  During  his  sover- 
eign's absence  Newcastle  received  offers  of  Royalist  assistance 
from  the  Elector  of  Brandenburg  and  the  Duke  of  Neuberg, 
now  newly  reconciled,  but  the  Stuart  defeat  at  Worcester  on 
September  3,  165 1,  together  with  certain  other  inconveniences, 
prevented  this  aid  from  materializing.^  After  that  time  Caven- 
dish took  little  share  in  politics,  which  Firth  thinks  was  per- 
haps due  to  Hyde's  growing  influence.^  These  two  noblemen 
were  not  always  on  the  best  of  terms,^  and  only  a  year  before 
Hyde  wrote,  *'The  Marquis  of  Newcastle  is  a  very  lamen- 
table man,  and  as  fit  to  be  a  general  as  a  bishop."  ^  Yet  by 
November  30,  1653,  the  Marquis  had  sent  him  a  ''very  com- 
fortable letter  of  advice,"^  so  that  their  relations  could  not 
have  been  entirely  severed. 

About  this  time,  i.e.  early  in  November,  165 1,  the  Duchess 
and  her  brother-in-law.  Sir  Charles  Cavendish,  made  a  trip  into 
England,  hoping  that  they  might  secure  further  means  of  sub- 
sistence there.  Sir  Charles's  estate  was  about  to  be  sold  unless 
he  returned  and  compounded  for  it,  which  he  was  very  loath 
to  do  until  persuaded  by  Clarendon  on  Newcastle's  solicitation. 
The  Marquis  had  long  since  given  up  any  scruples  he  might 
have  had  about  money-getting  and  had  become  quite  Jesuitical 
in  his  methods,  as  is  shown  in  his  letter  of  September  23,  1648, 
to  Robert  Long:  ''The  Prince  having  promised  that  as  soon 
as  the  gold  was  coined  I  should  have  ;£iooo  that  I  may  not 
starve,  I  request  that  the  bearer,  Mr.  Lovinge,  may  be  put  in 

1  For  the  correspondence,  see  Calendar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers.,  II, 
105-107. 

2  The  article  on  William  Cavendish,  first  Duke  of  Newcastle,  in  Diet.  Nat. 
Biog. 

«  Calendar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers,  I,  341,  and  III,  44,  51,  53. 

*  Ibid.,  II,  63.  6  Ibid.,  II,  280.    See  also  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  139-141- 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  55 

a  way  to  effect  it."  ^  He  may  almost  be  said  to  have  dunned 
the  King,2  who  is  "  grieved  to  hear  from  the  Duke  of  New- 
castle of  his  sufferings  on  account  of  his  loyalty "  ;  and  he 
evidently  tried  to  pull  strings  of  policy  as  well,  for  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham  writes  in  a  letter  that  he  is^  ''sorry  I  have 
not  been  able  to  serve  your  Lordship  at  this  present  as  I 
desired,  but  the  gentleman  that  delivers  this  to  you  will  lett 
you  know  how  earnestly  I  have  solicited  his  Majesty  in  your 
lordship's  business."  Charles's  intentions  were  the  best  in  the 
world,  but  his  resources  were  sinking  to  a  low  ebb  and  his 
impecunious  lords  must  now  shift  for  themselves.  In  fact  the 
King  wrote  to  Cavendish,  advising  ''  him  to  endeavour  the 
preservation  of  his  estate  in  England,  in  regard  of  his  pov- 
erty. "  ^  As  a  result  Newcastle's  wife  and  brother  set  out  on 
their  journey,  although  they  were  so  short  of  funds  that  they 
could  not  have  got  further  than  Southwark  had  not  Sir  Charles 
pawned  his  watch  to  pay  for  their  night's  lodging  and  for  the 
remainder  of  their  journey  into  town. 

Arrived,  the  Duchess  put  in  a  claim  to  a  portion  of  her 
husband's  property ;  but  that  was  useless,^  '*  for  they  sold  all 
my  Lord's  estate,  which  was  a  very  great  one,  and  gave  me 
not  any  part  thereof,  or  any  allowance  thereout,  which  few  or 
no  other  was  so  hardly  dealt  withal.  Indeed  I  did  not  stand 
as  a  beggar  at  the  Parliament  door,  for  I  never  was  at  the 
Parliament  House,  nor  stood  I  ever  at  the  door,  as  I  do  know 
or  can  remember,  I  am  sure,  not  as  a  petitioner.    Neither  did 


1  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  Report  on  the  Pepys  Mss.y  p.  228. 

2  Calendar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers,  II,  150. 

*  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  137.  Also  a  letter  from  the  King  to  Newcastle  in 
Calendar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers,  II,  391,  shows  there  were  wheels  within 
wheels  among  the  exiled  Royalists. 

*  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  Report  on  the  Pepys  Mss.,  p.  307. 

^  From  A  True  Relation,  Firth,  p.  167.  Part  of  the  estates  had  gone  to  a 
Major  Widmerpoole.    See  Memoirs  of  Colonel  Hutchinson,  II,  387. 


56  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

I  haunt  the  committees,  for  I  never  was  at  any,  as  a  petitioner, 
but  one  in  my  life,  which  was  called  Goldsmith's  Hall,  but  I 
received  neither  gold  nor  silver  from  them,  only  an  absolute 
refusal  I  should  have  no  share  in  my  Lord's  estate.  For  my 
brother,  the  Lord  Lucas,  did  claim  in  my  behalf  such  a  part 
of  my  Lord's  estate  as  wives  had  allowed  them,  but  they  told 
him  that  by  reason  I  was  married  since  my  Lord  was  made 
a  delinquent,  I  could  have  nothing,  nor  should  have  anything, 
he  being  the  greatest  traitor  to  the  State,  which  was  to  be  the 
most  loyal  subject  to  his  King  and  country.  But  I  whisper- 
ingly  spoke  to  my  brother  to  conduct  me  out  of  that  ungentle- 
manly  place,  so  without  speaking  to  them  one  word  good  or 
bad,  I  returned  to  my  lodgings,  and  as  that  committee  was 
the  first,  so  was  it  the  last,  I  ever  was  at  as  a  petitioner."  It 
is  symptomatic  that  while  here  the  authoress  gives  the  true 
cause  of  her  being  refused, ^  in  the  panegyrical  Life  she  has 
worked  herself  up  into  stating  that  her  brother  ''  received 
this  answer,  that  I  could  not  expect  the  least  allowance,  by 
reason  my  Lord  and  husband  had  been  the  greatest  traitor  of 
England  (that  is  to  say,  the  honestest  man,  because  he  had 
been  most  against  them.)"  Since  facts  reflected  no  especial 
credit  on  her  Lord,  they  are  omitted,  and  fancy  supplies  the 
necessary  radiance. 

Meanwhile,  Sir  Charles  negotiated  for  his  estate,  but  the 
process  of  compounding  was  so  slow,  laborious,  and  unproduc- 
tive that  credit  alone  enabled  them  to  keep  body  and  soul 
together.  Newcastle's  two  sons  were  also  in  England  without 
means,  and,  in  addition  to  all  this,  came  a  plea  from  the 
Marquis  at  Antwerp.  His  creditors  were  growing  impatient, 
he  wrote,  and  they  would  trust  him  no  longer.  In  this  strait 
Sir  Charles  managed  to  scrape  ;£200  sterling  together  upon 
credit  and  sent  it  off  to  the  Continent,  but  before  it  reached 

^  Calendar  ef  the  Proceedings  of  the  Committee  for  Compounding^  p.  I733- 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  57 

its  destination  affairs  had  come  to  a  head.  Newcastle  had 
assembled  his  creditors  and  harangued  them  with  such  effect 
that,  melted  to  pity  by  his  misfortunes,  they  promised  to  assist 
him  in  whatever  way  they  could.  Then  came  the  ;£200  from 
England,  and  a  feast  took  the  place  of  the  famine.  Sir  Charles 
was  having  worse  luck,  for  after  he  had  agreed  to  pay  ;£450O 
for  his  estate,  Parliament  ordered  it  surveyed  again.  In  this 
way  the  sum  was  increased  by  ;£500,  which  he  had  to  raise 
by  selling  some  of  his  land  at  an  underrate.  Also,  when  the 
Marquis's  estate  was  to  be  sold  outright.  Sir  Charles  deter- 
mined to  save  the  two  chief  houses  of  Welbeck  and  Bolsover 
and  was  compelled  to  sacrifice  more  of  his  land  to  accomplish 
this  object.  Bolsover  had  already  been  bought  by  some  one,  who 
was  pulling  it  down  to  make  money  from  the  materials ;  ^  but 
despite  its  almost  complete  demolition.  Sir  Charles  had  to  pay 
a  much  higher  price  than  if  he  could  have  got  it  at  first  hand. 
The  Duchess  tells  us  that  while  in  England  she  led  a  very 
retired  life,  only  going  out  to  make  half  a  score  of  visits,  to  hear 
music  three  or  four  times  at  the  house  of  Henry  Lawes,  and 
to  drive  with  her  sisters  in  Hyde  Park.^  She  wrote  a  good  deal 
both  at  this  period  and  after  her  return  to  Antwerp,  which 
occurred  toward  the  middle  or  end  of  1653,  upon  her  receiving 
a  report  of  the  Marquis's  malaise.  Sir  Charles  planned  to 
accompany  her  but  was  seized  by  an  ague  that  prevented  and 
that  ultimately  caused  his  death,  on  February  23,  1653-1654.^ 
The  news  plunged  Newcastle  into  grief,  for  his  brother  was 
not  only  brilliant   but  also  most  lovable,   as  we  learn  from 


1  This  is  the  Duchess's  statement,  but  on  June  23,  1649,  ^^  Council  of  State 
had  already  ordered  that  Bolsover  should  be  made  untenable.  See  Calendar 
of  State  Papers  {Domestic),  164^,  pp.  204,  217-218. 

2  A  True  Relation,  Firth,  pp.  169-170. 

*  Firth  puts  it  on  February  4,  without  authority.  But  see  Calendar  of 
Clarendon  State  Papers,  II,  317,  No.  1742;  the  preceding  Monday  was  the 
23rd. 


58  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Clarendon,  who  marvels  at  the  strength  and  beauty  of  his  mind 
and  soul  as  compared  with  his  small  deformed  body.^  The 
Duchess  says  that  "  even  his  enemies  did  much  lament  his 
loss  "  and  elsewhere  pays  him  a  still  more  flattering  tribute, 
when  for  the  only  time  she  indulges  in  a  comparison  unfavor- 
able to  her  husband  and  admits  that  he  ''  has  not  so  much  of 
scholarship  and  learning  as  his  brother  Sir  Charles  Cavendish."  ^ 
Before  this  sad  event  the  Duchess  had  arrived  safely  at  Ant- 
werp, whereupon  their  creditors,  supposing  she  had  brought 
back  a  large  sum  of  money,  thronged  to  the  Marquis  anew  and 
anew  had  to  be  appeased  by  eloquence  or  empty  promises.  Yet 
in  November  of  this  year  (1653)  we  find  Newcastle  negotiating 
over  pearls  valued  at  ^  10  for  his  wife,  doubtless  a  gift  in 
honor  of  her  return.^  The  palliation,  if  there  be  any,  lies  in 
the  husband's  devotion,  which  was  so  great  that,  we  are  told,  he 
"  confined  himself  most  to  her  company  ...  yet  with  honour, 
and  decency,  and  with  much  respect  paid  him  by  all  men."  ^ 
Not  a  few  important  strangers  passed  through  Antwerp  in 
these  days,  and  apparently  all  of  them  visited  Cavendish,^ 
whose  manage  was  one  of  the  sights  of  the  town,  while  his 
authoritative  work  on  horsemanship  was  already  receiving  at- 
tention. King  Charles  himself  honoured  Newcastle's  house 
with  the  Royal  presence,  when  on  his  way  towards  Germany. 
Both  the  Duke  of  Oldenburg  and  the  Prince  of  East  Friesland 
presented  him  with  horses  of  their  own  breed.  The  Landgrave 
of  Hesse  after  being  at  the  Marquis's  stables  wrote  him  **  by  a 
very  kind  letter"  that  he  would  add  two  steeds  to  the  estab- 
lishment, but  his  early  death  prevented  that  gift.    ''  The  Prince 

1  Clarendon,  Book  VI,  §  29.  2  jrij-tii^  p,  106. 

8  Cahfidar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers,  II,  277,  284,  313. 

*  Life  of  Clarendon  by  himself  Oxford,  1827,  I,  292. 

®  Sir  John  Reresby  remarks  that  at  the  time  of  his  visit,  "The  old  Duke  of 
Newcastle  (though  then  but  Marquis)  lived  at  Antwerp,  but  I  durst  not  visit 
him  for  fear  of  being  discovered."  —  Memoirs,  p.  35. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  59 

of  Cond^  himself,  with  several  Noble-men,  and  Officers, 
was  pleased  to  take  the  pains  to  go  twice  to  my  Mannage  : 
And  though  the  French  think,  That  all  the  Horsemanship 
in  the  World  is  in  France ;  yet  one  of  them,  and  he  a  very 
great  Man  in  his  Country,  was  heard  say,  directing  his  Speech 
to  me :  Par  Dieu  (Monsieur)  il  est  bien  hardi  qui  monte  de- 
vant  vous :  And  another  said,  at  another  time  :  II  n'y  a  plus 
de  Segnieur  comme  vous  en  Angleterre."  ^  When  Don  John 
of  Austria,  the  governor  of  those  provinces,  stayed  in  Ant- 
werp, more  than  seventeen  coaches  waited  on  the  Marquis 
in  a  single  morning.  Don  John  was  kept  away  by  the  multi- 
plicity of  his  affairs  but  sent  most  lavish  apologies  and  was 
exceedingly  gracious  when  Cavendish  came  to  call  upon  him, 
desiring  to  see  the  book  on  horsemanship  before  it  was 
printed.2  His  successor,  the  Marquis  of  Caracena,  was  very 
anxious  to  watch  Newcastle  ride,  and  although  he  was  not  in 
good  practice,  having  been  sick  for  six  weeks  or  two  months 
previously,  the  stranger's  urgent  requests  prevailed.  Of  this 
incident  he  gives  us  a  technical  but  at  the  same  time  a  most 
suggestive  account :  ^ 

The  Marquess  of  Caracena  was  so  civilly  earnest  to  see  me  ride, 
that  he  was  pleased  to  say  that  it  would  be  a  great  satisfaction  to  him 
to  see  me  on  horseback,  though  the  horse  should  but  walk.  And  see- 
ing that  no  excuses  would  serve  (though  I  did  use  many)  I  was  con- 
tented to  satisfy  his  so  obliging  a  curiosity;  and  told  him,  I  would 
obey  his  commands,  though  I  thought  I  should  hardly  be  able  to  sit 
in  the  saddle.  Two  days  after  he  came  to  my  manage,  and  I  rid  first 
a  Spanish  horse  called  Le  Superbe,  of  a  light  bay,  a  beautiful  horse, 
and  though  hard  to  be  rid,  yet  when  he  was  hit  right,  he  was  the 
readiest  horse  in  the  world.  He  went  in  corvets,  forward,  backward, 
side-ways,  on  both  hands ;  made  the  cross  perfectly  upon  his  voltoes ; 
and  did  change  upon  his  voltoes  so  just,  without  breaking  time,  that 
a  musician  could  not  keep  time  better ;  and  went  terra  k  terra  perfectly. 

^  "  To  the  Readers,"  prefixed  to  A  New  Method  and  Extraordinary  Invention. 
2  Ibid.  «  Ibid. 


6o  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

The  second  horse  I  rid,  was  another  Spanish  called  Le  Genty ;  and 
was  rightly  named  so,  for  he  was  the  finest-shaped  horse  that  ever  I 
saw,  and  the  neatest ;  a  brown  bay  with  a  white  star  in  his  forehead ; 
no  horse  ever  went  terra  a  terra  like  him,  so  just  and  so  easy ;  and  for 
the  piroyte  in  his  length,  so  just  and  so  swift  that  the  standers-by 
could  hardly  see  the  rider's  face  when  he  went  and  truly  when  he  had 
done,  I  was  so  dizzy,  that  I  could  hardly  sit  in  the  saddle.  The  third 
and  last  horse  I  rid  then  was  a  Barb,  that  went  a  metz-ayre  very  high, 
both  forward  and  upon  his  voltoes  and  terra  k  terra.  And  when  I  had 
done  riding  the  Marquess  of  Caracena  seemed  to  be  very  well  satis- 
fied ;  and  some  Spaniards  that  were  with  him,  crossed  themselves,  and 
cried  Miraculo ! 

On  returning  from  Germany  Charles  rode  in  the  manage, 
for  he  had  learned  the  art  from  Newcastle  himself  in  the  days 
of  his  tutorship.  Also,  since  it  chanced  that  the  Princess- 
Royal,  the  Duke  of  York,  and  the  Duke  of  Gloucester  were  all 
in  Antwerp,  Newcastle  gave  them  an  elaborate  entertainment 
at  his  house.  Sir  Charles  Cottrell  describes  it  in  a  letter  to 
Secretary  Nicholas  :  ^ 

At  the  ball  at  Lord  Newcastle's  was  the  Duchess  of  Loraine  and  her 
son  and  daughter,  with  the  King  and  his  brothers  and  sister,  several 
French  people  and  some  of  the  town.  The  King  was  brought  in  with 
music,  and  all  being  placed.  Major  Mohun,  the  player,  in  a  black  satin 
robe  and  garland  of  bays,  made  a  speech  in  verse  of  his  lordship's  own 
poetry,  complimenting  the  King  in  his  highest  hyperbole.  Then  there 
was  dancing  for  two  hours,  and  then  my  Lady's  Moor,  dressed  in 
feathers,  came  in  and  sang  a  song  of  the  same  author's,  set  and  taught 
him  by  Nich.  Lanier.  Then  was  the  banquet  brought  in  in  eight  great 
chargers,  each  borne  by  two  gentlemen  of  the  court,  and  others  bring- 
ing wines,  drinks,  etc.  Then  they  danced  again  two  hours  more,  and 
Major  Mohun  ended  all  with  another  speech,  prophesying  his  Majesty's 
re-establishment.2 

This  was  in  February,  1658,  and  two  years  later  Royalist 
hearts  beat  high,  for  the  prophecy  was  fulfilled,  Charles  was 

1  Calendar  of  State  Papers^  i6_$y-i6^8,  pp.  296,  311. 

2  No  wonder  on  a  later  occasion  Charles  "  did  merrily,  and  in  jest,  tell  me 
that  he  perceived  my  Lord's  credit  could  procure  better  meat  than  his  own." — 
Firth,  p.  63. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  6 1 

recalled  to  the  English  throne,  and  Newcastle's  sixteen-year-long 
exile  was  ended.  Some  difficulty  arose  because  of  his  per- 
ennial creditors,  despite  such  excellent  management  as  the 
Duchess  describes  when  characterizing  their  manage ;  for 
"my  Lord,  partly  with  the  remainder  of  his  brother's  estate 
(which  was  but  little,  it  being  wasted  by  selling  of  land  for 
compounding  with  the  Parliament,  paying  of  several  debts, 
and  buying  out  the  two  houses  aforementioned,  viz.  Welbeck 
and  Bolsover)  and  the  credit  which  his  sons  had  got,  which 
amounted  in  all  to  £2400  a  year,  sprinkled  something  amongst 
his  creditors,  and  borrowed  so  much  of  Mr.  Top  and  Mr.  Smith 
(though  without  assurance)  that  he  could  pay  such  scores  as 
were  most  pressing,  contracted  from  the  poorer  sort  of  trades- 
men, and  send  ready  money  to  market,  to  avoid  cozenage  (for 
small  scores  run  up  most  unreasonably,  especially  if  no  strict 
accounts  be  kept,  and  the  rate  be  left  to  the  creditor's  pleasure) 
by  which  means  there  was  in  a  short  time  so  much  saved,  as 
it  could  not  have  been  imagined."  Notwithstanding  all  these 
precautions,  if  one  will  give  elaborate  entertainments  to  pro- 
claim his  loyalty  and  buy  costly  pearls  to  deck  out  his  wife,  he 
must  expect  his  bank  account  to  diminish.  This  poverty  of 
the  Newcastles  was  not  due  to  their  having  too  little,  but  to  their 
wanting  too  much.  But  1660  had  arrived,  the  King  had  come 
into  his  own  again,  and  nothing  must  stand  in  the  way  of  a 
return.  Therefore  Newcastle  conceived  the  idea  of  having  his 
wife  stay  as  a  hostage  to  their  creditors,  while  he  set  sail  even 
before  Charles.  The  Duchess  evidently  thought  this  not  at 
all  unnatural,  for  she  relates  the  story  of  his  journey  home 
with  an  elation  and  sincerity  that  make  it  one  of  her  most 
successful  passages  —  the  particular  instance,  while  never  for  a 
moment  forgotten,  taking  on  an  almost  universal  aspect : 

In  the  meantime,  whilst  my  Lord  was  at  the  Hague,  his  Majesty 
'was  pleased  to  tell  him,  that  General  Monk,  now  Duke  of  Albermarle, 
had  desired  the  place  of  being  Master  of  the  Horse;  to  which  my 


62  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Lord  answered,  that  that  gallant  person  was  worthy  of  any  favour  that 
his  Majesty  could  confer  upon  him  :  and  having  taken  his  leave  of  his 
Majesty,  and  his  Highness  the  Duke  of  York,  went  towards  the  ship 
that  was  to  transport  him  for  England  (I  might  better  call  it  a  boat, 
than  a  ship ;  for  those  that  were  intrusted  by  my  Lord  to  hire  a  ship 
for  that  purpose,  had  hired  an  old  rotten  frigate  that  was  lost  the  next 
voyage  after;  insomuch,  that  when  some  of  the  company  that  had 
promised  to  go  over  with  my  Lord,  saw  it,  they  turned  back,  and 
would  not  endanger  their  lives  in  it,  except  the  now  Lord  Widdrington, 
who  was  resolved  not  to  forsake  my  Lord.) 

My  Lord  (who  was  so  transported  with  the  joy  of  returning  into  his 
native  country,  that  he  regarded  not  the  vessel)  having  set  sail  from 
Rotterdam,  was  so  becalmed,  that  he  was  six  days  and  six  nights  upon 
the  water,  during  which  time  he  pleased  himself  with  mirth,  and  passed 
his  time  away  as  well  as  he  could ;  provisions  he  wanted  not,  having 
them  in  great  store  and  plenty.  At  last,  being  come  so  far  that  he  was 
able  to  discern  the  smoke  of  London,  which  he  had  not  seen  in  a  long 
time,  he  merrily  was  pleased  to  desire  one  that  was  near  him,  to  jog 
and  awake  him  out  of  his  dream,  for  surely,  said  he,  I  have  been  six- 
teen years  asleep,  and  am  not  thoroughly  awake  yet.  My  Lord  lay  that 
night  at  Greenwich,  where  his  supper  seemed  more  savoury  to  him, 
than  any  meat  he  had  hitherto  tasted ;  and  the  noise  of  some  scraping 
fiddlers  he  thought  the  pleasantest  harmony  that  ever  he  had  heard. 

In  the  meantime  my  Lord's  son,  Henry,  Lord  Mansfield,  now  Earl 
of  Ogle,  was  gone  to  Dover  with  intention  to  wait  on  his  Majesty,  and 
receive  my  Lord  his  father,  with  all  joy  and  duty,  thinking  he  had 
been  with  his  Majesty ;  but  when  he  missed  of  his  design,  he  was  very 
much  troubled  and  more  when  his  Majesty  was  pleased  to  tell  him  that 
my  Lord  had  set  to  sea,  before  his  Majesty  himself  was  gone  out  of 
Holland,  fearing  my  Lord  had  met  with  some  misfortune  in  his  journey, 
because  he  had  not  heard  of  his  landing.  Wherefore  he  immediately 
parted  from  Dover,  to  seek  my  Lord,  whom  at  last  he  found  at 
Greenwich.  With  what  joy  they  embraced  and  saluted  each  other, 
my  pen  is  too  weak  to  express. 

Naturally  Newcastle  strained  every  means  to  redeem  his  wife 
from  pawn,  but  as  it  was  uncertain  whether  he  was  to  have  his 
estate,  the  borrowing  of  money  was  extremely  difficult.  At 
last  he  procured  what  seemed  enough  from  one  Mr.  Ash,  but 
the  Duchess  had  been  meantime  running  up  bills  herself  and 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  63 

travelling  expenses  also  must  be  paid.  The  sum  fell  short  by 
;£"400,  which  she  finally  obtained  from  Mr.  Shaw,  a  near  kins- 
man to  the  aforesaid  Ash.  When  her  preparations  for  departure 
were  completed,  the  magistrates  of  Antwerp  came  to  offer  their 
respects  and  afterwards  sent  a  farewell  present  of  wine,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom.  Flushing  was  to  have  been  the  Duchess's 
port  of  sail,  but  as  no  English  man-of-war  had  arrived  there, 
she  was  fain  to  cross  on  a  Dutch  ship,  that  favor  being  granted 
her  by  the  government.  At  London  her  husband  was  dwelling 
in  lodgings  not  suited  to  his  position,  ''  neither  did  I  find  my 
Lord's  condition  such  as  I  expected."  This  phrase  may  mean 
that  Newcastle  was  so  old-fashioned  as  not  to  fit  easily  into  the 
court  life  surrounding  Charles  IL  His  past  services  had  to  be 
recognized  and  rewarded,^  but  one  gathers  that  he  was  made 
to  feel  \{\v^^^i  persona  non  grata  in  the  new  regime.  His  wife, 
with  a  woman's  intuition,  seems  to  have  comprehended  the 
situation  at  once,  for  ''  out  of  some  passion  "  she  urged  him  to 
leave  town  forthwith  and  retire  into  the  country.  At  first  he 
reproved  her  impatience  and  moved  to  better  quarters  in 
Dorset  House  but  shortly  after  announced  his  decision  to  take 
her  advice. 

There  is  something  infinitely  pathetic  in  this  picture  of  the 
man  who  has  outlived  his  age.  Newcastle  was  now  nearly  sev- 
enty years  old,  and  in  those  shifting  days,  the  England  to 
which  he  returned  was  hardly  recognizable  as  the  England  he 
had  left.  The  last  trace  of  the  old  Elizabethan  spirit  had  died 
out,  and  the  "  Restoration  "  with  all  that  it  connotes  had  come 
into  being.  It  was  inevitable  that  the  Cavalier  whose  interests 
had  been  in  horsemanship  and  weapons,  whose  faults  were  the 
result  of  an  excessive  but  spirited  pride,  should  have  little 
in  common  with  the  effeminate  and  amorous  courtiers  that 

1  On  September  13,  1660,  Charles  gave  his  assent  to  an  act  restoring 
to  Newcastle  all  his  possessions. 


64  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

surrounded  Charles  II.  The  pre-Revolutionary  court  had  had 
its  weakness  which  went  hand  in  hand  with  its  strength ;  now 
its  vices  and  virtues  were  together  broken  down  and  a  different 
atmosphere  prevailed.  Newcastle  had  given  up  his  ease  at 
home,  sacrificed  much,  and  fought  bravely  for  the  Stuarts ; 
since  his  flight  he  had  been  as  devotedly  loyal  to  a  forlorn 
cause.  When  the  King  was  executed,  his  affections  and  hopes 
were  transferred  to  the  Prince,  for  whom  he  had  worked,  and 
in  whom  he  had  believed  through  his  years  of  exile.  ''  My 
Lord  was  never  without  hopes  of  seeing  yet  (before  his 
death)  a  happy  issue  of  all  his  misfortunes  and  sufferings, 
especially  of  the  restoration  of  his  most  gracious  King  and 
master,  to  his  throne  and  kingly  right,  whereof  he  always 
had  assured  hopes,  well  knowing,  that  it  was  impossible  for 
the  kingdom  to  subsist  long  under  so  many  changes  of  gov- 
ernment ;  and  whensoever  I  expressed  how  little  faith  I  had 
in  it,  he  would  gently  reprove  me,  saying  I  believed  least  what 
I  desired  most."  ^  Now  that  Newcastle  saw  his  quondam  pupil 
raised  to  the  throne,  he  had  every  reason  to  expect  an  important 
share  in  the  general  exultation  over  restored  freedom  and  power. 
Instead,  he  found  himself  set  aside  in  favor  of  younger  and 
more  entertaining  companions.  Presently  the  new  favorite, 
Buckingham,  became  incensed  at  a  comparison  made  by  the 
Earl  of  Bristol  in  the  House  of  Lords  between  his  past  loyalty 
and  Cavendish's.  A  duel  was  about  to  take  place,  but  Charles 
intervened  to  protect  his  friend. ^  There  could  be  no  possibility 
of  misunderstanding  the  situation  later,  when  in  1663  New- 
castle became  involved  in  an  altercation  with  Buckingham  over 
Colonel  Hutchinson's  imprisonment  and  was  humiliatingly 
forced  to  withdraw  the  promises  of  freedom  he  had  given  to 

1  Firth,  p.  59. 

2  //isf.  Mss.  Comm.,^  Rep.,  App.,  pp.  155,  177,   This  was  on  August  6,  1660, 
Buckingham  being  the  second  duke  of  that  name. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  65 

that  Rebel  officer.^  Charles  cannot  be  blamed  if  he  resented 
the  intrusive  presence  of  an  older  man,  which  must  have  been 
unpleasantly  suggestive  of  paternal  and  tutorial  surveillance, 
but  that  does  not  soften  the  essential  tragedy  of  Newcastle's 
position. 

At  all  events,  Charles  seems  to  have  made  no  demur  when 
the  Marquis  requested  leave  of  absence  from  London .2  The 
Life  intimates  as  much  by  the  very  things  it  leaves  unsaid, 
though  it  is  probably  true  that  Cavendish's  loyalty  did  not  in 
the  least  abate: 

My  Lord,  before  he  began  his  journey,  went  to  his  gracious  Sov- 
ereign, and  begged  leave  that  he  might  retire  into  the  country,  to  reduce 
and  settle,  if  possible,  his  confused,  entangled,  and  almost  ruined  estate. 
"  Sir,"  said  he  to  his  Majesty,  "  I  am  not  ignorant,  that  many  believe 
I  am  discontented ;  and  'tis  probable,  they  '11  say,  I  retire  through  dis- 
content: but  I  take  God  to  witness,  that  I  am  no  kind  or  ways  dis- 
pleased ;  for  I  am  so  joyed  at  your  Majesty's  happy  restoration,  that 
I  cannot  be  sad  or  troubled  for  any  concern  to  my  own  particular ;  but 
whatsoever  your  Majesty  is  pleased  to  command  me,  were  it  to  sacri- 
fice my  life,  I  shall  most  obediently  perform  it ;  for  I  have  no  other 
will,  but  your  Majesty's  pleasure."  Thus  he  kissed  his  Majesty's 
hand,  and  went  the  next  day  into  Nottinghamshire,  to  his  manor- 
house  called  Welbeck. 

Love  of  the  country  was  given  out  as  his  reason  for  retiring, 
but  it  is  more  likely  that  the  Duchess's  unsuitability  to  society 
and  their  lack  of  funds  were  contributory  causes.    In  addition, 

1  Memoirs  of  Colonel  Hiitcktnson,  II,  290-292, 

2  Clement  Ellis,  Newcastle's  chaplain,  thus  comments  on  his  retirement  in 
the  prefatory  epistle  to  a  sermon  preached  on  May  29,  1661  :  "With  much 
pleasure  I  have  hearkened  to  you  discoursing  of  that  satisfaction  you  reaped 
from  that  sweet  privacy  and  retirement  his  Majesty  is  pleased  to  grant  your 
Lordship  here  in  the  country.  Indeed,  the  greatest  reward  his  Majesty  can 
possibly  recompense  your  services  withal,  is  thus  to  bestow  you  upon  your- 
self, and  I  know  you  think  it  greater  happiness  to  enjoy  my  Lord  Marquis  of 
Newcastle  at  Welbeck,  than  all  the  offices  and  honours  which  your  exem- 
plary loyalty  has  merited."  —  Kennet's  Ecclesiastical  and  Civil  Register,  p.  455, 
in  Firth,  p.  68,  n. 


66  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Newcastle  was  very  fond  of  his  northern  estates,  and  he  wished 
to  do  all  that  he  could  towards  restoring  their  former  glory. 
Welbeck  and  Bolsover,  it  will  be  remembered,  were  secured  by 
Sir  Charles  Cavendish,  but  after  his  death  they  had  passed  into 
the  hands  of  Charles,  Viscount  Mansfield,  the  Marquis's  elder 
son.  When  this  Charles  died  in  June,  1659,  they  were  trans- 
ferred to  his  younger  brother  Henry,  afterwards  Earl  of  Ogle. 
The  hangings  and  pictures  were  on  the  point  of  going  to 
pay  Charles's  debts,  but  letters  from  Antwerp  had  persuaded 
Henry  to  redeem  them  :  ^ 

1659  Oct.  II.  —  Your  sister  [in-law]  not  being  with  child  makes  us 
know  we  can  pretend  but  little  interest  in  her.  What  her  jointure  is 
I  know  not.  Now  for  what  is  in  our  power,  I  pray  you  live  at  your 
own  houses,  We[lbeck]  and  Bo[lsover],  which  will  much  conduce  to 
your  health.  The  next  is  for  the  goods,  which  troubles  me  much,  that 
so  long  gathering  by  your  ancestors  should  be  destroyed  in  a  moment. 
This  is  my  earnest  advice  to  you.  First  they  are  appraised,  and  goods 
are  never  appraised  at  a  third  part  of  their  value ;  and  then  you  may 
buy  them  and  no  ill  bargain  if  you  took  the  money  at  interest  or  your 
father-in-law  laid  out  the  money  and  had  all  the  goods  in  his  hands 
for  his  security.  My  intention  is  but  to  save  the  goods  for  you,  that 
is  all  the  design  my  wife  and  I  have  in  the  business,  for  she  is  as  kind 
to  you  as  she  was  to  your  brother  and  so  good  a  wife  as  that  she  is  all 
for  my  family,  which  she  expresses  is  only  you. 

1659  Oct.  25. —  I  can  write  no  more  about  the  goods  except  that  I 
and  my  wife  give  all  our  interest  therein  to  you  wholly  and  totally. 
There  are  many  good  pictures  besides  Vandykes  and  "  Stennickes  " 
[Steenwijcks].  Pray  leave  your  dovecot  where  you  are  now  and  live 
at  Wel[beck],  which  will  conduce  much  to  your  health  and  your  Lady's 
and  the  little  Ladies'. 

1659  Nov.  15. —  I  give  you  hearty  thanks  for  preserving  the  rem- 
nants of  those  goods.  I  believe  your  sister[in-law's]  servants  have  made 
great  spoil  of  the  goods,  for  the  painter  told  me  the  cases  of  crimson 
velvet  for  the  chairs  in  the  parlour  at  Bolsover  were  there  a  little 
before  your  brother  Charles  died.  But  we  must  part  fair  with  her,  and 
repair  it  as  well  as  we  can.  The  gold  lace  and  embroidery  of  the  purple 

^  Welbeck   Mss.,  II,   143.    Newcastle  wrote  under  the   name   of   Robert 
Deane. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  67 

velvet  bed  was  worth  £z^o  at  least,  and  five  chambers  at  Bolsover 
were  furnished  with  very  fine  hangings  at  £^  a  stick.  The  pictures 
there  were  most  rare,  and  if  you  think  they  are  a  little  spoiled,  I  will 
send  over  the  painter  to  you  again. 

If  ever  I  see  you  I  will  make  W[elbeck]  a  very  fine  place  for  you. 
I  am  not  in  despair  of  it,  though  I  believe  you  and  I  are  not  such 
good  architects  as  your  worthy  grandfather.  If  I  am  blessed  with  the 
happiness  of  seeing  you,  it  will  be  a  thousand  pounds  a  year  better 
for  you  than  if  I  should  die  before. 

Now  Newcastle  found  the  two  houses  in  bad  repair,  Bolsover 
indeed  being  half  pulled  down,  as  we  have  seen.  Many  of  his 
other  lands  he  had  difficulty  in  obtaining  because  of  the  Act 
of  Oblivion,  and  some  he  sold  to  buy  the  Castle  of  Notting- 
ham or  to  pay  his  outstanding  debts.  What  he  succeeded  in 
retaining  was  much  injured ;  of  his  eight  parks,  only  one, 
Welbeck,  was  not  completely  destroyed.  In  especial  Clipston 
Park  (its  pale-row  alone  had  been  worth  ^£2000),  where  his 
Grace  had  been  wont  to  hunt,  hawk,  and  fish,  was  totally  ruined. 
"  And  although  his  patience  and  wisdom  is  such,  that  I 
never  perceived  him  sad  or  discontented  for  his  own  losses  and 
misfortunes,  yet  when  he  beheld  the  ruins  of  that  park  I  ob- 
served him  troubled,  though  he  did  not  express  it,  only  saying, 
he  had  been  in  hopes  it  would  not  have  been  so  much  defaced 
as  he  found  it,  there  being  not  one  timber-tree  in  it  left  for 
shelter.  However,  he  patiently  bore  what  could  not  be  helped, 
and  gave  present  order  for  the  cutting  down  of  some  wood 
that  was  left  him  in  a  place  near  adjoining,  to  repale  it,  and 
got  from  several  friends  deer  to  stock  it."  Also  he  stocked 
and  manured  his  other  lands,  as  well  as  rebuilding  the  two 
manor-houses. 

At  this  stage  in  her  work  the  Duchess  launches  forth  into 
a  lengthy  account  of  her  husband's  possessions  and  what  ex- 
traordinary losses  he  suffered  during  the  Rebellion.  The  very 
briefest   summary   will   suffice.     His   property   came   through 


68  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

three  women :  his  grandmother  on  his  father's  side,  Elizabeth 
Hardwick,  who  afterward  married  Sir  WilUam  St.  Loo  and 
finally  George,  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  both  without  issue ;  his 
own  mother,  Catharine,  daughter  and  only  surviving  heir  of 
Cuthbert,  Lord  Ogle;  and  finally  his  first  wife,  Elizabeth 
Basset  of  Blore,  widow  of  Henry  Howard,  younger  son  to 
the  Earl  of  Suffolk.  These  three  rich  alliances  explain  the 
vast  estate  which  accumulated  for  Newcastle  and  the  otherwise 
almost  incredible  figure  at  which  his  wife  places  his  total  loss 
—  ;^94 1,303.  This  sum  is  arrived  at  by  reckoning,  item  by 
item,  the  annual  rents  for  eighteen  years,  the  damage  to  parks, 
the  lands  lost  in  present  possession  and  in  reversion,  those 
sold  to  pay  his  debts,  and  the  composition  of  his  brother's 
estate,  so  that  there  is  no  reason  for  doubting  the  calculations. 
This  does  not  include  the  loss  of  his  personal  estate,  i.e.  the 
furnishings  and  appointments  of  houses  and  parks,  nor  the 
expense  from  lawsuits  and  rehabilitating  the  property,  which 
was  incurred  after  1660.  Thus  in  a  perfect  whirlwind  of  facts 
and  figures  the  Duchess  brings  her  Second  Book  to  a  close, 
leaving  the  reader  overwhelmed  by  Newcastle's  stupendous  mis- 
fortunes and  the  consequent  extent  of  his  loyal  self-sacrifice. 

in 

"  THE  THIRD  AND  FOURTH  BOOKS  "  (1667-1676) 

It  remains  to  describe  the  last  years  of  the  Duke  and 
Duchess,  as  they  became  on  March  16,  1664-1665.^  In  1661 
the  King  had  created  Newcastle  Chief-Justice  in  Eyre  Trent- 
North,  but  this  post  seems  to  have  been  more  onerous  than 

1  On  May  5  "  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  [came  to  town,  and  the  next  day 
waited  on  his  Majesty  to  render  his  humble  thanks  for  the  addition  of  honour 
lately  conferred  on  him,  which  his  Majesty  was  pleased  to  accept  with  such 
favour  as  showed  not  only  a  regard  to  his  merit,  but  an  affection  for  his 
person."  —  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.y  The  Mss.  of  J.  M.  Heathcote,  p.  191. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  69 

decorative/  so  that  it  was  natural  for  the  Marquis  to  look 
toward  higher  advancement.  Moreover,  as  we  have  seen,  he 
was  a  politician  by  nature,  and  Charles  owed  him  large  sums 
of  money,  which  there  was  little  likelihood  that  he  would  ever 
get  back.  All  things  seemed  to  work  together,  then,  especially 
when  it  was  flatly  announced  that  only  the  ;£3500  principal 
of  a  ^9240  debt  was  to  be  paid,  and  a  large  part  of  that  by 
"  privy  seal."  ^  As  a  result  Newcastle  felt  not  only  justified 
but  also  fairly  confident  in  applying  for  the  much-desired,  if 
comparatively  inexpensive,  dukedom.  That  he  showed  no 
hesitancy  in  doing  so,  is  plain  from  a  letter  of  Charles's 
written  to  him  on  June  7,  1664  :^ 

I  have  received  yours  by  your  son,  and  am  resolved  to  grant  your 
request.  Send  me  therefore  word  what  title  ♦you  desire  to  have,  or 
whether  you  will  choose  to  keepe  ypur  old  and  leave  the  rest  to  me. 
I  do  not  tell  you  I  will  despatch  it  tomorrow ;  you  must  leave  the  time 
to  me,  to  accomodate  it  to  some  other  ends  of  myne ;  but  the  differing 
it  shall  not  be  long  nor  with  any  circumstance  that  shall  trouble  you. 
I  am  glad  you  enjoy  your  health  for  I  love  you  very  well. 

The  Marquis  chose  to  keep  his  same  title  and  accordingly 
became  Earl  of  Ogle  and  first  Duke  of  Newcastle-upon-Tyne. 
Yet,  despite  these  new  honors,  his  later  days  were  spent 
quietly  in  the  country,  far  from  the  activities  of  a  busy  world. 
Witness  his  letter  written  to  Colonel  Legg  on  August  2,  1666  :* 

Noble  Sir, 

I  am  borne  to  trouble  you  —  and  this  nowe  is  to  desire  you  to  pre- 
sente  my  moste  humble  dewtye  and  service  to  his  Majestic,  and  tell 
him  I  congratulate  with  my  sole  his  Majesties  late  and  most  glorious 
victory  over  his  enemies,  which  will  make  all  his  neyghbor  kinges 
stoope  to  him  —  and  I  praye,  Sir,  aquainte  his  Majestic  that  I  have 
a  fine  roebuck,  and  to  knowe  whether  I  shall  sende  him  upp  or  no; 

1  See  Welbeck  Mss.,  printed  in  First  Duke  and  Duchess^  pp.  216-217. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  218. 

8  Wdbeck  Mss.,  II,  145. 

*  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.y  11  Rep.,  App.,  Part  V,  p.  14. 


70  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

he  was  taken  att  my  litle  farme  in  Northumberlande,  theye  are  melen- 
collye  neshe  peevishe  thinges,  —  beleve  mee,  Sir,  I  ame  pationatlye 
Your  olde  and  most  faythful  servante 

W.  Newcastle 

He  was,  no  doubt,  one  of  the  most  conspicuous  figures  in  north- 
ern England,  as  we  may  imagine  from  his  friendly  relations 
with  that  arch-Puritan,  Colonel  Hutchinson,^  and  from  Sir  John 
Reresby's  proud  assertion  that  the  Duke  "  used  to  say  that  he 
hoped  to  see  five  generations  of  my  family ;  that  he  knew  Sir 
Thomas  Reresby  very  well,  and  desired  to  be  godfather  to  my 
son,  if  he  lived  till  one  was  born  to  the  family.  "^  Newcastle 
and  his  wife  paid  occasional  visits  to  town ;  at  all  events  we 
know  they  were  there  for  an  extended  stay  in  April  and 
May,  1667.  On  April  10  the  King  visited  them,  and  on 
May  30  the  Duchess  attended  a  meeting  of  the  Royal  Society. 
Samuel  Pepys  records  these  facts  and  also  his  very  decided 
impressions  about  the  lady,  which  we  will  leave  for  a  more 
particular  study,  together  with  John  Evelyn's  account  of  her 
eccentricities.  Later  Newcastle  returned  with  his  wife  to 
Welbeck  and  there  resumed  the  even  tenor  of  rural  life. 

Nothing  more  need  be  added  here  but  the  chronicle  of 
their  deaths.  The  Duchess  went  first,  on  December  15,  1673, 
and  was  buried  the  following  January  7  in  the  North  Transept 
of  Westminster  Abbey .^  Her  husband,  now  a  man  of  eighty, 
survived  for  what  must  have  been  a  lonely  three  years,  dying 
on  Christmas  Day,  1676.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  son  Henry, 
Earl  of  Ogle,  who  was  evidently  more  to  Charles's  liking  than 
the  father  had  been,  for  that  monarch  greeted  the  news  of 

^  Memoirs  of  Colonel  Hutchinson^  II,  274,  286. 

2  Memoirs^  p.  79,  and  see  also  p.  92  for  another  reference  to  the  friendly 
relations  existing  between  the  two  gentlemen. 

'  "  Mr,  Fulman,  in  the  fifteenth  volume  of  his  manuscript  collections  in 
Corpus  Christi  College  Archives  states  that  she  died  in  London."  —  Ballard's 
Memoirs  of  British  Ladies^  P-2I3.  For  Charles's  grant  of  the  burying  place 
see  Hist,  Mss.  Comm.,  is  Rep. .App.., Part  VII,  p.  78  (News-letter  of  May  13, 1671). 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  71 

Newcastle's  end  with  these  words  :  "I  should  be  most  sorry 
for  the  death  of  my  old  friend  but  that  so  very  honest  and 
worthy  a  man  is  the  better  for  it."  ^  The  Duke  was  buried 
beside  his  wife  under  the  monument  he  had  himself  erected. 
"Against  the  Skreen  of  the  Chappel  of  St.  Michael  you 
behold  a  most  noble  spacious  Tomb  all  of  white  Marble,  but 
adorned  with  Two  Pillars  of  black  Marble,  with  Entablatures 
of  the  Cori?ithian  Order,  embellished  with  Arms  and  most 
curious  Trophy-works,  on  the  Pedestal  whereon  you  see  Two 
Images  in  full  Proportion,  of  white  Marble  in  a  cumbent 
Posture  in  their  Robes."  ^  Beneath  appears  the  following 
appreciative  inscription  : 

Here  lyes  the  Loyall  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  his  Dutchess,  his  sec- 
ond wife  by  whom  he  had  noe  issue  :  Her  name  was  Margarett  Lucas, 
youngest  sister  to  the  Lord  Lucas  of  Colchester,  a  noble  familie ;  for 
all  the  Brothers  were  Valiant,  and  all  the  Sisters  virtuous.^  The 
Dutchess  was  a  wise,  wittie  and  Learned  Lady,  which  her  many  Books 
do  well  testifie ;  she  was  a  most  Virtuous  and  a  Loveing  and  careful! 
wife  and  was  with  her  Lord  all  the  time  of  his  banishment  and  miseries 
and  when  he  came  home,  never  parted  from  him  in  his  solitary 
retirement. 

Washington  Irving  in  the  paper  on  "Westminster  Abbey"  in 
his  Sketch  Book  writes  of  these  lines,  "There  was  a  noble  way, 
in  former  times,  of  saying  things  simply  and  yet  saying  them 
proudly,  and  I  do  not  know  of  an  epitaph  that  breathes  a 
loftier  consciousness  of  family  worth  and  honorable  lineage."  ^ 
The  Life  was  published  in  1667,  as  has  been  said,  and  con- 
sequently that  year  is  the  later  limit  of  the  Duchess's  biography. 
The  Third  Book  of  the  four  into  which  it  is  divided  contains 

1  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  152. 

2  Joducus    Crull's    T^e  Antiquities   of  St   Peter's,    or  the  Abbey- Church   of 
Westminster,    1 7 13,   p.  276. 

'  Addison  is  "very' much  pleased"  with  this  passage,  apropos  of  courage 
in  men  and  chastity  in  women.    See  Spectator,  No.  99,  Saturday,  June  23,  171 1. 
*  Works,  1857,  II,  218. 


72  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

little  new  material,  but  it  recapitulates  and  rehearses  much 
of  what  has  gone  before,  grouping  it  under  sixteen  particular 
heads.  Needless  to  say,  only  the  most  laudatory  topics  are 
admitted  and  these  so  emphasized  as  to  be  mainly  responsible 
for  the  impression  made  upon  the  reader.  Countless  repeti- 
tions and  constantly  recurring  tables  do  much  to  mar  the  effect, 
but  in  its  essential  plan  this  part  of  her  book  is  the  highest 
manifestation  of  our  author's  unconscious  literary  skill.  The 
first  divisions  are  especially  striking  and  worthy  of  attention, 
because  of  their  lively  portraiture  and  vivid  anecdotes.  "Of  his 
Power"  contains  an  account  of  Newcastle's  success  in  raising 
troops,  together  with  a  history  of  the  White-coats,  their  forma- 
tion, their  valor,  their  loyalty,  and  their  destruction.  A  specific 
incident  is  used  to  drive  these  points  home,  and  it  is  only  to  be 
regretted  that  the  Duchess  neutralized  her  story's  force  by  fol- 
lowing it  with  tabular  lists  of  officers  and  garrison  governors : 

My  Lord  being  in  Antwerp„received  a  visit  from  a  gentleman,  who 
came  out  of  England,  and  rendered  my  Lord  thanks  for  his  safe  escape 
at  sea;  my  Lord  being  in  amaze,  not  knowing  what  the  gentleman 
meant,  he  was  pleased  to  acquaint  him,  that  in  his  coming  over  sea 
out  of  England,  he  was  set  upon  by  pickaroons,  who  having  examined 
him,  and  the  rest  of  his  company,  at  last  some  asked  him,  whether  he 
knew  the  Marquess  of  Newcastle?  To  whom  he  answered,  that  he 
knew  him  very  well,  and  was  going  over  into  the  same  city  where  my 
Lord  lived.  Whereupon  they  did  not  only  take  nothing  from  him,  but 
used  him  with  all  civility,  and  desired  him  to  remember  their  humble 
duty  to  their  Lord-General,  for  they  were  some  of  his  White-coats  that 
had  escaped  death;  and  if  my  Lord  had  any  service  for  them,  they 
were  ready  to  assist  him  upon  what  designs  soever,  and  to  obey  him 
in  whatsoever  he  should  be  pleased  to  command  them. 

"Of  his  Misfortunes  and  Obstructions"  and  "Of  his  Loyalty 
and  Sufferings  "  recount  most  of  the  lets  and  hindrances  which 
confronted  Newcastle,  the  former  being  a  brief  resume  of  all 
those  obstacles  to  his  military  success  already  enumerated  in 
the   First   Book  and  coming   to  a  close  with   his  defeat  at 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  73 

Marston  Moor.  The  fourth  section,  ''  Of  his  Prudence  and 
Wisdom,"  is  thrust  in  next,  with  the  Duchess's  usual  nafve 
disregard  for  the  natural  sequence,  which  would  make  number 
five,  "  Of  his  Blessings,"  follow  "  his  Loyalty  and  Sufferings." 
Said  prudence  and  wisdom  consisted  in  a  prophecy  of  the 
Civil  War,  in  his  excellent  management  of  the  Northern  Army 
and  of  his  own  private  affairs  ("although  my  Lord  naturally 
loves  not  business,  especially  those  of  state"),  and  in  the  **  Little 
Book  "  which  he  wrote  during  his  exile  to  tell  Charles  II  how 
the  kingdom  should  be  governed.  The  most  unexpected  bless- 
ing is  item  three  (many  of  these  sections  have  subcataloguing) 
and  coming  from  such  an  outspoken  and  frank  second  wife, 
it  is  no  mean  tribute : 

That  He  [God]  made  him  happy  in  his  marriage ;  (for  his  first  wife 
was  a  very  kind,  loving  and  virtuous  lady)  and  blessed  him  with  duti- 
ful and  obedient  children,  free  from  vices,  noble  and  generous,  both 
in  their  natures  and  actions ;  who  did  all  that  lay  in  their  power  to 
support  and  relieve  my  Lord  their  father  in  his  banishment  as  is 
before  mentioned. 

Number  six  is  a  formal  list  **  Of  his  Honours  and  Dignities"; 
number  seven,  a  memorandum  '*  Of  the  Entertainments  he 
made  for  King  Charles  the  First." 

In  the  other  divisions  the  Duchess  becomes  even  more 
personal  and  particular.  "  His  Education  "  has  been  considered 
in  its  proper  chronological  place ;  "  His  Natural  Wit  and 
Understanding"  is  largely  occupied  with  an  account  of  his 
relations  with  Hobbes ;  ''Of  his  Natural  Humour  and  Dis- 
position "  is  a  panegyric  on  his  numerous  and  varied  virtues, 
ending  with  this  equivocal  reservation : 

In  short,  I  know  him  not  addicted  to  any  manner  of  vice  except  that 
he  has  been  a  great  lover  and  admirer  of  the  female  sex;  which, 
whether  it  be  so  great  a  crime  as  to  condemn  him  for  it,  I  '11  leave 
to  the  judgment  of  young  gallants  and  beautiful  ladies. 


74  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Sections  11-15  inclusive  are  all  short,  but  each  gives  an  inti- 
mate and  important  account  of  some  phase  of  her  husband's 
personality,  so  that  they  deserve  to  be  considered  in  full : 

II.  Of  his  Outward  Shape  and  Behavior 

His  shape  is  neat  and  exactly  proportioned ;  his  stature  of  a  middle 
size,  and  his  complexion  sanguine. 

His  behaviour  is  such,  that  it  might  be  a  pattern  for  all  gentlemen ; 
for  it  is  courtly,  civil,  easy  and  free  without  formality  or  constraint; 
and  yet  hath  something  in  it  of  grandeur,  that  causes  an  awful  respect 
towards  him. 

Now  the  Duchess's  way  of  saying  that  her  husband  ought  to 
have  been  the  mould  of  form  is  quite  as  important  as  the  fact, 
which  seems  true  enough.  Newcastle's  education  and  his  sub- 
sequent career  must  have  tended  to  develop  a  pleasing  and 
agreeable  dignity  of  manner. 

12.  Of  his  Discourse 

His  discourse  is  as  free  and  unconcerned  as  his  behaviour,  pleasant, 
witty,  and  instructive ;  he  is  quick  in  repartee  or  sudden  answers,  and 
hates  dubious  disputes  and  premeditated  speeches.  He  loves  also  to 
intermingle  his  discourse  with' some  short  pleasant  stories  and  witty 
sayings,  and  always  names  the  author  from  whom  he  hath  them ;  for 
he  hates  to  make  another  man's  wit  his  own. 

This  ability  in  repartee  is  exemplified  by  a  traditional  anecdote,^ 
which  has  been  taken  to  cast  some  doubt  on  Newcastle's 
tolerant  affection  for  his  Duchess  and  may  perhaps  help  to 
explain  it.  Mr.  Jonathan  Richardson,^  the  younger,  on  the 
authority  of  a  Mr.  Fellows,  relates  that  a  friend  congratulated 
Cavendish  on  having  such  a  very  wise  woman  as  his  wife. 
''Sir"  replied  the   Duke  in  almost  Johnsonian   fashion,  "a 

1  Compare  also  the  bon  mot  related  by  Warwick  at  the  siege  of  Hull.  See 
above,  p.  32. 

2  Richardsoniana,  pp.  249-250,  in  First  Duke  and  Duchess,  p.  268. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  75 

very  wise  woman  is  a  very  foolish  thing."  This  may  be  con- 
sidered the  expression  of  a  passing  mood  or  the  unthinking 
retort  of  a  habitual  wit,  but  it  may  scarcely  be  supposed  to  offer 
serious  testimony  against  the  Newcastles'  married  happiness. 


13.  Of  his  Habit 

He  accoutres  his  person  according  to  the  fashion,  if  it  be  one  that 
is  not  troublesome  and  uneasy  for  men  of  heroic  exercises  and  actions. 
He  is  neat  and  cleanly;  which  makes  him  to  be  somewhat  long  in 
dressing,  though  not  so  long  as  many  effeminate  persons  are.  He 
shifts  [i.e.  changes  his  clothes]  ordinarily  once  a  day,  and  every  time 
when  he  uses  exercise,  or  his  temper  is  more  hot  than  ordinary. 


14.  Of  his  Diet 

In  his  diet  he  is  so  sparing  and  temperate,  that  he  never  eats  nor 
drinks  beyond  his  set  proportion,  so  as  to  satisfy  only  his  natural 
appetite.  He  makes  but  one  meal  a  day,  at  which  he  drinks  two  good 
glasses  of  small-beer,  one  about  at  the  beginning,  the  other  at  the  end 
thereof,  and  a  little  glass  of  sack  in  the  middle  of  his  dinner ;  which 
glass  of  sack  he  also  uses  in  the  morning  for  his  breakfast,  with  a 
morsel  of  bread.  His  supper  consists  of  an  egg,  and  a  draught  of 
small  beer.  And  by  this  temperance  he  finds  himself  very  healthful, 
and  may  yet  live  many  years,  he  being  now  of  the  age  of  seventy-three, 
which  I  pray  God  from  my  soul  to  grant  him. 


15.  His  Recreation  and  Exercise 

His  prime  pastime  and  recreation  hath  always  been  the  exercise  of 
manage  and  weapons;  which  heroic  acts  he  used  to  practice  every 
day ;  but  I  observing  that  when  he  had  overheated  himself,  he  would 
be  apt  to  take  cold,  prevailed  so  far,  that  at  last  he  left  the  frequent 
use  of  the  manage,  using  nevertheless  still  the  exercise  of  weapons ; 
and  though  he  doth  not  ride  himself  so  frequently  as  he  hath  done, 
yet  he  takes  delight  in  seeing  his  horses  of  manage  rid  by  his  escuyers, 
whom  he  instructs  in  that  art  for  his  own  pleasure.  But  in  the  art  of 
weapons  (in  which  he  has  a  method  beyond  all  that  ever  were  famous 
in  it,  found  out  by  his  own  ingenuity  and  practice)  he  never  taught 


76  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

anybody  but  the  now  Duke  of  Buckingham,^  whose  guardian  he  hath 
been,  and  his  own  two  sons. 

The  rest  of  his  time  he  spends  in  music,  poetry,  architecture,  and 
the  like. 

The  sixteenth  and  last  section  is  '*  Of  his  Pedigree,"  which 
the  Duchess  proudly  states  goes  back  to  the  family  of  Ger- 
nouns  in  the  time  of  William  the  Conqueror.  The  length 
and  detail  of  this  narration  shows  how  important  it  was  to  the 
authoress,  but  for  the  sake  of  record  we  may  briefly  summarize 
her  facts  by  a  diagram,  shown  on  the  opposite  page. 

The  Fourth  Book  is  distinctly  inferior  to  the  others,  yet  at 
the  same  time  it  contains  some  valuable  material  which  one 
would  not  wish  omitted.  It  consists  of  '*  several  Essays  and 
Discourses  Gathered  from  the  Mouth  of  my  noble  Lord 
and  Husband "  and  may  be  roughly  divided  into  two  parts. 
The  first  sixty-three  observations  tend  to  be  somewhat  formal, 
they  are  introduced  by  the  words  ''  I  have  heard  my  Lord  say," 
and  each  commences  with  a  subordinate  ''that."  Fifty-six  of 
them,  having  to  do  with  government,  are  concise  statements 
of  ideas  expanded  in  the  ''  Little  Book  "  and  will  be  considered 
in  connection  with  it.  The  following  seven  deal  with  more 
universal  qualities  of  human  nature  and,  as  Newcastle  was 
not  an  important  original  thinker,  are  of  less  importance. 
Number  LVIII,  ''That  men  are  apt  to  find  fault  with  each 
other's  actions ;  believing  they  prove  themselves  wise  in  find- 
ing fault  with  their  neighbours,"  is  no  more  platitudinous  than 
the  average.  From  the  sixty-fourth  on,  these  notes  assume  a 
familiar  tone,  as  though  the  Duchess  recalled  the  conditions 
under  which  each  statement  was  made.  Now  and  then  she 
records  what  she  herself  said  on  the  occasion  and  sometimes 
gives  the  remarks  of  other  participants  in  the  conversation. 

1  Buckingham  was  brought  up  with  Charles  I's  sons.  See  Lady  Burghclere's 
George  Villiers,  p.  i8. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE 


77 


II 


IS" 


jf  o  o 


Sbg 

-  c  o 
M  3  a. 


W  5 


ti 

u^ 

4,    p 

^    >-• 

;s^ 

O^ 

r^l 

cn"M 

^1 

V 

CS3 

.a 

I— 1 

^    -M 

c 

"^ 

r^ 

U 

6 

■§2 

S 

ja'o 

4j 

5, 

—    CS 

§ 

WW 

~^ 

4J 

Sj 

IS 

>-4 

CO 

S 

"S  ^ 

to 

II 

sr 

-i 

—    •  •r' 

"S 

S 

g 

►1 

II  — 

■5 

(U 

^ 

4_> 

_^ 

53 

€° 

j 

M 

S^g- 

W 

X 

^^   u. 

«j 

o.u 

J3 

-CO. 
—  rt  (/J  — 

2 

;=! 

W  aJ 

"oJ 

W 

g^2 

y3 

gw 

1 

r 

Kg 

rt 

o 

'c 

J 

•S 

_c 

2" 

b 

'0 

13 

a 

ID 

^ 

is2 

K 

c" 

^S) 

o 

-M     O 

C/3 

O  <4-l 

y     «     O 


78  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

This  enables  us  to  get  a  good  idea  of  the  Duke's  already 
vaunted  repartee,  which,  truth  to  tell,  is  variable  and  often 
worse  than  mediocre.  Number  LXXIV  descends  to  such 
a  commonplace  as,  ''  My  Lord  being  in  banishment,  I  told 
him  that  he  was  happy  in  his  misfortune,  for  he  was  not 
subject  to  any  state  or  prince.  To  which  he  jestingly  answered, 
that  as  he  was  subject  to  no  prince,  so  he  was  a  prince  of  no 
subjects "  ;  but  again,  as  in  Number  LXXXIII,  he  strikes 
most  palpable  fire,  ''  My  Lord  discoursing  some  time  with 
a  learned  doctor  of  divinity  concerning  faith,  said,  that  in  his 
opinion,  the  wisest  way  for  a  man  was  to  have  as  little  faith 
as  he  could  for  this  world,  and  as  much  as  he  could  for  the 
next  world." 

Frequently  in  these  later  paragraphs  Newcastle's  overwhelm- 
ing loyalty  is  reiterated,  while  there  are  not  a  few  hints  that 
he  felt  hurt  by  Charles  II's  aloofness  and  disregard  for  serv- 
ices rendered.  Certainly  when  Number  LXIX  is  considered, 
the  reason  for  Newcastle's  retirement  from  London  cannot  be 
very  far  to  seek : 

I  have  heard  him  say  several  times  that  his  love  to  his  gracious  master 
King  Charles  the  Second  was  above  the  love  he  bore  to  his  wife,  chil- 
dren, and  all  his  posterity,  nay,  to  his  own  life :  and  when,  since  his 
return  into  England,  I  answered  him  that  I  observed  his  gracious 
master  did  not  love  him  so  well  as  he  loved  him ;  he  replied,  that  he 
cared  not  whether  his  Majesty  loved  him  again  or  not;  for  he  was 
resolved  to  love  him. 

Despite  the  Duchess's  abominable  use  of  pronouns,  the  Cava- 
lier's spirit  rings  out  nobly  from  this  paragraph,  and  Firth  well 
parallels  it  with  Butler's  lines  :  ^ 

Loyalty  is  still  the  same 
Whether  it  win  or  lose  the  game, 
True  as  the  dial  to  the  sun 
Although  it  be  not  shined  upon. 

1  HudibraS',  Part  III,  Canto  2, 11.  173-177. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CA  VENDISHE  79 

The  eighty-fifth  and  last  division  consists  of  an  incident  which 
emphasizes  this  same  consciousness  of  neglect,  expressed  with 
a  tang  that  savors  of  Wolsey's  lines  in  Hcftry  VIII \ 

After  my  Lord's  return  from  a  long  banishment,  when  he  had  been 
in  the  country  some  time  and  endeavored  to  pick  up  some  gleanings 
of  his  ruined  estate;  it  chanced  that  the  widow  of  Charles,  Lord  Mans- 
field, my  Lord's  eldest  son,  afterwards  Duchess  of  Richmond,  to  whom 
the  said  Lord  of  Mansfield  had  made  a  jointure  of  £  2000  a  year,  died 
not  long  after  her  second  marriage.  For  whose  death,  though  my 
Lord  was  heartily  sorry,  and  would  willingly  have  lost  the  said  money, 
had  it  been  able  to  save  her  life;  yet  discoursing  one  time  merrily 
with  his  friends  was  pleased  to  say,  that  though  his  earthly  king  and 
master  seemed  to  have  forgot  him,  yet  the  King  of  Heaven  had 
remembered  him,  for  he  had  given  him  ^2000  a  year. 

Had  the  Duchess  been  content  to  end  her  work  here,  she 
would  have  had  a  striking  if  rather  trivial  conclusion,  but  to 
the  Fourth  Part  proper  we  have  added  *'  Some  Few  Notes  of 
the  Authoresse,"  which  from  an  artistic  point  of  view  are 
utterly  destructive.  It  is  extremely  typical  of  Margaret  Caven- 
dish, however,  to  jot  down  whatever  observations  occurred  to 
her  in  passing,  and  the  only  wonder  is  that  she  confined  her- 
self to  seventeen  heads.  The  first  seven  exalt  her  husband, 
as  might  be  expected  :  in  one  she  compares  him  with  Caesar, 
to  the  latter 's  disadvantage,  while  in  another,  Number  III, 
she  expatiates  on  his  honesty  and  truthfulness.  When  some 
of  the  political  shifts  of  Newcastle's  younger  days  are  remem- 
bered, his  wife  seems  to  pull  a  long  bow  in  asserting  *'  that 
my  noble  Lord  has  always  had  an  aversion  to  that  kind  of 
policy  that  now  is  commonly  practised  in  the  world,  which  in 
plain  terms  is  dissembling,  flattery,  and  cheating  under  the 
cover  of  honesty,  love,  and  kindness.  But  I  have  heard  him 
say  that  the  best  policy  is  to  act  justly,  honestly,  and  wisely, 
and  to  speak  truly ;  and  that  the  old  proverb  is  true,  '  To  be 
wise  is  to  be  honest.*  "    The  Duchess's  ten  final  remarks  diverge 


8o  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

from  the  unifying  principle  of  her  work  and  wander  off 
into  vague  generaUzations  that  have  nothing  at  all  to  do  with 
her  theme.  The  Life  breaks  down  into  the  formless  philoso- 
phizing of  its  authoress's  ill-regulated  mind,  and  as  it  does  so 
its  value  as  a  work  of  art  consistently  decreases. 

Yet,  all  things  considered,  this  book  is  Margaret's  most 
important  contribution  to  literature,  and  as  literature  it  should 
be  regarded,  despite  an  air  of  historical  veracity.  For  the 
authoress's  purpose  was  not  to  chronicle  facts,  although  she 
thought  it  was,  but  to  put  on  paper  a  highly  specialized  por- 
trait of  the  Cavalier,  par  excellence.  She  never  deliberately 
falsified,  for  sincerity  and  frankness  were  too  deeply  ingrained 
in  her  character ;  but  ignorance  of  certain  facts,  suppression  of 
others,  with  the  whole  seen  through  hero-worshipping  eyes, 
give  a  total  impression  far  removed  from  truth.  Unity  of  feel- 
ing resulted  in  an  artistic  unity  which  no  other  of  her  writings 
possesses  and  a  lack  of  which  is  the  chief  defect  of  her 
undoubted  genius.  Here  for  once  this  singleness  of  tone  is 
fortuitously  obtained,  so  that,  coupled  as  it  is  with  her  usual 
vivacity  and  natural  naivete,  a  delightful  work  of  enduring 
art  has  been  created.  The  Duke  of  Newcastle  as  presented 
in  this  biography  might  be  a  personage  of  fiction  in  so  far 
as  the  material  about  him  is  selected  and  proportioned.  Yet 
at  the  same  time  he  lives  for  us  as  do  only  the  great  figures 
in  our  literature,  by  virtue  of  those  countless  details  which  were 
actual  facts  and  so  convey  an  impression  of  life  itself.  Strangely, 
these  minor  realities  do  not  distract  one's  attention  from  the 
larger  significance  intended  or  mar  the  structural  proportion 
of  the  whole  work.  If  this  completed  sketch  had  been  faith- 
ful to  actual  conditions  in  feeling  and  atmosphere,  it  might 
have  been  safely  compared  with  Boswell  on  a  diminished 
scale,  but  fine  as  the  total  effect  is,  it  must  be  judged  by  other 
standards,  for  it  is  not  true. 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE     ,     8 1 

A  comparison  of  Clarendon's  brilliant  and  unbiassed  descrip- 
tion with  almost  any  important  passage  from  the  Life  reveals 
this  difference  at  once.  The  Duchess  was  looking  at  a  pre- 
conceived situation  from  a  rigidly  narrow  point  of  view,  she 
interpreted  events  in  accordance  with  it,  and  as  a  result,  in 
cases  where  her  knowledge  was  only  second-hand,  she  felt  free 
with  her  material.  It  will  be  recalled  that  her  information  for 
the  First  Book  came  chiefly  from  Cavendish's  secretary,  John 
RoUeston,  and  in  it,  as  we  have  seen,  history  goes  far  askew.^ 
Most  notable  are  the  omissions :  there  is  not  a  word  of  New- 
castle's intrigues  to  get  his  earlier  advancements,  of  the  shortage 
in  ammunition  that  helped  to  occasion  Fairfax's  abandonment 
of  Tadcaster,  of  the  Royalist  defeats  following  it,  of  the  Queen's 
instrumentality  in  converting  Cholmley,  of  the  failure  to  win 
over  the  Hothams  and  Hutchinson,  or  of  the  breach  of  capit- 
ulation terms  at  Rotherham,  all  events  tending  to  decrease 
the  Duke's  credit.  His  wife  overestimates  his  levy  of  soldiers 
in  the  north,  the  size  of  Henrietta  Maria's  escort  to  Oxford, 
and  the  number  of  prisoners  taken  at  St.  Mary's  Tower.  She 
excuses  the  breach  of  the  conditions  of  Gainsborough's  capit- 
ulation, emphasizes  two  vain  promises  of  the  Yorkshire  people 
that  they  would  raise  10,000  men,  and  mentions  only  the  un- 
successful sally  made  by  Hull's  garrison.  Regarding  the  Scotch 
expedition,  she  does  not  say  that  Newcastle  had  been  several 
times  warned  of  this  invasion  but  would  not  act,  yet  takes 
pains  to  show  how  his  force  was  weakened  by  aiding  Mont- 
rose.   In  accordance  with  her  husband's  wishes  the  names  of 

1  It  is  interesting  to  compare  the  Duchess's  earlier  dictum  concerning  a 
history,  which  "  cannot  be  exactly  true,  because  there  are  so  many  several 
Intentions  interwoven  with  several  Accidents ;  and  several  Actions  divided 
into  so  many  several  Parties  and  several  Places ;  and  so  many  several 
Reporters  of  several  Opinions,  Partialities,  Understandings,  Judgments,  and 
Memorials,  which  gave  such  various  relations  of  one  and  the  same  Action, 
that  an  Historian  (being  but  one  Man)  cannot  possibly  know  the  truth."  — 
Nature's  Picture,  p.  701. 


82  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

various  delinquents  are  not  given,  but  it  does  not  take  great 
effort  to  infer  that  Newport  blundered  at  Tadcaster,  Goring 
foolishly  lost  Wakefield,  a  post  at  York  prevented  the  enemy's 
complete  annihilation  after  Adwalton  Moor,  and  that  General 
King  was  in  command  when  the  Earl  of  Kingston  was  acci- 
dentally shot.  The  defeat  of  Bellasis  in  Yorkshire  is  seen  to 
be  as  patently  unnecessary  as  it  was  detrimental  to  Newcastle's 
operations  against  the  Scots.  In  our  writer's  own  words,  ''  It 
is  remarkable,  that  in  all  actions  and  undertakings  where  my 
Lord  was  in  person  himself,  he  was  always  victorious,  and 
prospered  in  the  execution  of  his  designs ;  but  whatsoever 
was  lost  or  succeeded  ill,  happened  in  his  absence,  and  was 
caused  either  by  the  treachery  or  negligence  and  carelessness 
of  his  officers."  1 

When  it  comes  to  any  problem  on  which  historians  are  not 
yet  agreed,  we  can  be  sure  to  get  little  satisfaction  from  the 
Duchess,  and  therefore  we  are  not  surprised  to  find  her 
bigotedly  opinionated  on  the  two  moot  questions  in  Newcastle's 
career,  —  was  his  return  north  from  Lincoln  dictated  by  selfish 
motives  ?  and  was  his  flight  to  the  continent  justified  ?  Her 
answer  to  both  is  for  all  practical  purposes  identical :  the  king 
can  do  no  wrong.  This  is  not  the  stuff  trustworthy  biographers 
are  made  of,  to  be  sure,  and  it  shows  that  as  an  historical 
record  the  Life  must  be  thrown  out  of  court.  Moreover,  little 
of  what  is  true  in  it  is  important.  Such  an  eminent  and 
widely  read  authority  as  Professor  Firth  finds  ^  ''  that  *  the 
generous  and  high  born  men '  who  follow  the  recommen- 
dation of  the  Cambridge  Senate  and  study  this  Life  as  a 
contribution  to  military  history  will  find  little  in  it  which 
they  could  not  learn  more  fully  and  accurately  from  the 
pages  of  Rushworth  or  Whitelock.  An  occasional  incident  or 
anecdote,  the  name  of  a  forgotten  officer,  or  the  locality  of 

1  Firth  p.  41.  2  p^  Yiii^ 


THE  LIFE  OF  WILLIAM  CAVENDISHE  83 

an  obscure  skirmish,  an  account  of  the  Duke's  personal  share 
in  one  or  two  engagements,  sum  up  the  amount  of  its  con- 
tributions to  the  military  history  of  the  civil  wars."  And  as 
the  First  Book  contains  little  else,  its  value  is  comparatively 
insignificant. 

The  rest  of  this  work  is  of  a  different  nature,  because  on  a 
sounder  and  less  important  historical  basis.  Events  become  of 
small  account,  while  the  man  in  whom  they  centre  occupies 
our  entire  attention.  He  lives  vividly  on  every  pa^e,  in  his 
constant  hope  throughout  the  years  of  exile,  in  his  efforts  to 
live  well  on  credit,  his  pride  in  noble  horses,  his  dignity  in 
misfortunes,  the  return  to  his  native  country,  the  almost  curt 
dismissal  by  Charles,  and  finally  the  retirement  to  his  country 
seat  in  an  effort  to  restore  a  shattered  estate.  In  like  manner 
but  more  personally  the  authoress  tells  of  his  conversation,  his 
diet,  his  family  relations,  his  dress,  and  his  habits,  as  only  by 
years  of  affectionate  association  she  could  have  learned  to 
know  them.  Here  facts  are  almost  impeccable  (save  for  the 
rhapsodic  excuse  she  offers  for  the  rebuff  at  Goldsmith's  Hall), 
but  the  spirit  behind  them  tends  to  obscure  trustworthy  record. 
The  Duchess  tells  of  her  husband's  expensive  horses  even  as 
she  laments  his  debts  and  boldly  acknowledges  being  herself 
pawned  that  he  might  return  home.  Yet  she  never  admits  a 
doubt  as  to  his  motives.  These  actions  which  bespeak  extrava- 
gance and  selfishness  are  to  the  devoted  wife  unavoidable  evils 
attendant  on  his  misfortunes.  She  does  not  conceive  of  any 
other  interpretation  for  them  and,  what  is  more,  nearly  per- 
suades the  reader  by  her  sincere  conviction.  As  a  result  the 
idealized  portrait  of  Newcastle  which  one  gets  in  her  book  is 
almost  nearer  fiction  than  history ;  by  mere  chance  it  comes  to 
have  the  qualities  of  art  rather  than  of  nature.  So  successful 
was  the  Duchess  in  her  method  that,  when  Mrs.  Hutchinson 
came  to  undertake  a  similar  work,  she  modelled  her  Memoirs 


84  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

of  the  Colonel  quite  directly  on  the  Life}  The  significance 
in  this  imitation  from  our  point  of  view  is  that,  somehow  or 
other,  the  Duchess  here  stumbled  on  effective  literary  devices, 
which  were  thought  worthy  to  be  copied  and  which  have  allowed 
the  book  to  survive  despite  its  mediocre  historical  value. 

It  is,  then,  in  this  intimate  description  of  a  seventeenth- 
century  nobleman  that  the  value  of  her  work  lies,  and  if  he  is 
not  drawn  in  his  habit  as  he  lived,  there  is  no  reason  for  a 
critic  of  literature  to  complain.  The  portrait  as  it  stands  is 
far  more  clear,  striking,  and  effective  than  it  would  have  been 
if  all  sides  of  Newcastle's  character  had  been  touched  upon. 
In  consequence  it  has  been  enjoyed  by  a  larger  public  than  any 
authoritative  chronicle  could  possibly  have  attracted.  Human 
nature  delights  in  worshipping  idols  even  as  it  does  in  follow- 
ing a  rake's  progress,  and  upon  this  universal  truth  the 
Life  of  William  Cavendishe  depends  for  its  popularity. 
Other  writers  of  that  century  consciously  tried  to  cloak 
lurid  tales  with  a  mantle  of  reality ;  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle 
unknowingly  commits  as  great  a  deception  in  foisting  upon 
her  readers  excessive  panegyric  under  the  guise  of  facts.  The 
authoress's  personality  has  worked  upon  these  facts  and  fash- 
ioned them,  until  their  hero  emerges  as  a  person  of  her  own 
fertile  imagination,  yet  maintains  much  that  is  typical  of  his 
age,  more  of  his  individual  character,  and  something  common 
to  all  time.  Her  intense  loyalty  to  him  was  as  sincere  as  that 
which  he  felt  for  his  King,  and  together  these  traits  brought 
about  her  glorified  picture  of  the  Duke,  the  cavalier,  the  man. 
Its  popularity  and  intrinsic  value  alike  depend  not  upon  the  his- 
torical fabric  of  which  it  purports  to  be  composed  but  upon  that 
transforming  magic  of  fancy  and  art  which  directed  the  design. 

1  A.  H.  Upham  has  pointed  this  out  in  Anglia,  19 12,  XXXVI,  200-220, 
although  his  accepting  1 592  as  the  year  of  Newcastle's  birth  partially  throws 
out  his  argument  as  to  dates  of  composition. 


CHAPTER  II 

"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS" 

I 

EARLY  PATRONAGE  (1617-1636) 

No  doubt  Gerard  Langbaine's  appreciation  of  William  Cav- 
endish is,  like  the  Duchess's  own  estimate,  largely  gross  hyper- 
bole, but  there  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  his  assertion  that 
*'no  Person  since  the  Time  of  Augustus  better  understood 
Dramatick  Poetry,  nor  more  generously  encourag'd  Poets ;  so 
that  weifmay  truly  call  him  our  English  Maecenas."  ^  At  all  events 
a  nobleman  whose  interest  in  letters  began  with  Ben  Jonson  and 
extended  to  Shad  well,  who  was  on  terms  of  intimacy  with  Hobbes, 
Shirley,  and  Dryden,  is  not  to  be  disregarded  in  the  history  of 
English  patronage.  Many  a  dedication  both  before  and  after 
Newcastle's  exile  testifies  that  he  was  easy  of  access  to  struggling 
authors  and  generous  of  his  bounty,  in  evil  times  as  well  as  in 
prosperity.  Money  could  always  be  found  for  his  fine  horses  on 
the  Continent,  and  after  coming  home  he  could  never  bring 
himself  to  turn  away  a  needy  writer.  Dabbling  in  literature  was 
one  of  the  Duke's  passions,  and  one  he  ceaselessly  indulged. 
Perhaps  he  realized  how  very  mediocre  his  own  creative  talents 
were  and  resolved  by  way  of  compensation  inextricably  to  entangle 
his  literary  reputation  with  the  names  of  his  great  contemporaries, 
believing  with  one  whom  he  would  have  delighted  to  honor, 

So  long  as  men  can  breathe,  or  eyes  can  see, 
So  long  lives  this,  and  this  gives  life  to  thee.'^ 

^  An  Account  of  the  Dramatick  Poets,  1691,  p.  386. 
2  Shakespeare,  Sonnet  XVIII. 

85 


86  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Cavendish's  youth  showed  no  tendency  towards  learning 
except  his  early  proficiency  in  French,  a  necessary  part  of 
every  fine  gentleman's  equipment ;  in  general  the  boy  cared 
little  for  any  activity  which  required  perseverance  and  applica- 
tion. It  is  small  wonder,  then,  that  he  took  no  interest  in 
books  until  after  his  education  had  been  completed  and  all 
compulsion  relating  to  studies  had  been  removed.  An  easy 
enjoyment  of  art  was  more  congenial  to  him,  as  his  early  pur- 
chase of  a  '*  singing-boy "  bears  witness.  His  travels  abroad 
with  Sir  Henry  Wotton  must  have  done  much  to  foster  the 
growth  of  his  aesthetic  taste,  and  life  at  Charles  I's  court  may 
well  have  taught  him  that  every  man  of  the  world  was  expected 
to  be  a  man  of  letters  as  well.  Certainly  one  way  or  another 
Cavendish  managed  to  assimilate  the  old  Elizabethan  attitude 
towards  literature  and  to  carry  it,  comparatively  untouched, 
down  to  the  other  times  and  manners  of  the  Restoration.  His 
long  life,  spanning  as  it  does  the  mid-seventeenth  century, 
helps  to  illustrate  changing  conditions  and  ideals  within  that 
period. 

Rare  Ben  Jonson  was  the  first  author  to  come  into  close 
relations  with  Newcastle.  Their  connection  must  have  begun 
as  early  as  1617,  for  on  April  4  of  that  year  Sir  Charles 
Cavendish  died  and  the  poet,  now  at  the  height  of  his  career 
as  literary  dictator,  composed  his  epitaph.  In  it  the  dead  man 
addresses  ''  his  posterity  "  :  ^ 

Sons,  seek  not  me  among  these  polished  stones, 
These  only  hide  part  of  my  flesh  and  bones, 
Which,  did  they  e'er  so  neat  and  proudly  dwell, 
Will  all  turn  dust  and  may  not  make  me  swell. 
Let  such  as  justly  have  outlived  all  praise. 
Trust  in  the  tombs,  their  careful  friends  do  raise ; 
I  made  my  Life  my  monument,  and  yours, 
Than  which  there 's  no  material  more  endures, 

1  Ben  Jonson's  Wbris,  ed.  Gifford-Cunningham,  1875,  IX>  324- 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  8/ 

Nor  yet  inscription  like  it  writ  but  that ; 
And  teach  your  nephews  it  to  emulate : 
It  will  be  matter  loud  enough  to  tell 
Not  when  I  died,  but  how  I  lived  —  farewell. 

These  verses  were  doubtless  written  before  Jonson's  walking 
trip  to  Scotland  in  1618-1619;  and  shortly  after  his  return 
he  composed  an  interlude  for  the  christening  of  Sir  William's 
eldest  son.i  Prince  Charles  deigned  to  bestow  his  own  name 
on  the  baby,  and  consequently  every  preparation  was  made  at 
the  house  in  Black  Friars  to  honor  his  presence.  No  evidence 
exists  that  King  James  was  there  as  Gifford  states  ;  in  fact 
that  seems  very  improbable,  since  the  interlude  contains  fre- 
quent compliments  for  Charles  but  no  mention  at  all  of  his 
father.  It  commences  with  the  speech  of  a  Forester,  who  calls 
attention  to  the  table  laden  with  sweetmeats  representing  a 
hunting  scene,  and  continues  with  the  appearance  of  three 
gossips  whose  unrestrained  chatter  furnishes  the  backbone  of 
this  entertainment.  Duggs,  the  wet  nurse,  and  Kecks,  the 
dry  nurse,  contend  as  to  the  importance  of  their  respective 
functions,  while  Holdback,  the  midwife,  vaunts  her  ability  in 
foreknowing  the  sex  of  a  child.  A  Mathematician,  i.e.  an 
astrologer,  prophesies  all  good  things  for  the  boy  and  at  the 
same  time  contrives  to  flatter  the  noble  guest.  Finally,  the  Water- 
men of  Black  Friars  are  introduced  with  a  rollicking  song : 

They  say  it  is  merry  when  gossips  do  meet, 

And  more  to  confirm  it,  in  us  you  may  see 't, 

For  we  have  well  tasted  the  wine  in  the  street, 

And  yet  we  make  shift  to  stand  on  our  feet. 

As  soon  as  we  heard  the  Prince  would  be  here, 

We  knew  by  his  coming  we  should  have  good  cheer ; 

A  boy  for  my  lady !  then  every  year. 

Cry  we  —  for  a  girl  will  afford  us  but  beer: 


1  Jonson,  IX,  327-336. 


88  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

That  we  may  say 
Another  day 
My  Lord  be  thanked 
We  had  such  a  banquet 
At  Charles'  christening 
Was  worth  the  listening, 
After  a  year 
And  a  day,  for  I  fear 
We  shall  not  see 
The  like  will  be. 
To  sample  he, 
While  working  the  Thames 
Unless  't  be  a  James. 

In  1625  occurred  the  death  of  Lady  Jane  Ogle,  Cavendish's 
aunt,  the  widow  of  Edward,  eighth  Earl  of  Shrewsbury,  and  for  her 
Jonson  wrote  an  epitaph. ^  The  substance  of  it  is  that  every  tablet 
in  the  church  offers  the  usual  compliments  to  its  deceased,  but 
hers  is  unique  in  truthfully  stating  that  after  the  Earl's  decease  she 
no  longer  wished  to  live.  When  her  sister  Catharine,  Cavendish's 
mother,  died  four  years  later,  Ben  wrote  no  less  than  three  poems 
in  her  memory .2  The  most  pretentious  and  most  successful  runs  : 

She  was  the  light  (without  reflex 
Upon  herself)  of  all  her  sex. 
The  best  of  women  !  —  Her  whble  life 
Was  the  example  of  a  wife, 
I  Or  of  a  parent,  or  a  friend ! 

All  circles  had  their  spring  and  end 
In  her,  and  what  could  perfect  be 
And  without  angles,  IT  WAS  SHE.— 

All  that  was  solid  in  the  name 
Of  virtue ;  precious  in  the  frame, 
Or  else  magnetic  in  the  force. 
Or  sweet,  or  various,  in  the  course : 
What  was  proportion,  or  could  be 
By  warrant  called  just  symmetry 
In  number,  measure  or  degree 
Of  weight  or  fashion,  IT  WAS  SHE.— 

1  Jonson,  IX,  326.  2  ibid.,  IX,  324-326. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  MAECENAS"  89 

Her  soul  possest  her  flesh's  state 
In  freehold,  not  as  an  inmate ; 
And  when  the  flesh  here  shut  up  day, 
Fame's  heat  upon  the  grave  did  stay, 
And  hourly  brooding  o'er  the  same, 
Keeps  warm  the  spice  of  her  good  name, 
Until  the  ashes  turned  be 
Into  a  Phoenix  —  WHICH  IS  SHE. 

Best  of  all  this  poet's  work  in  connection  with  the  Cavendish 
family  are  the  two  epigrams  he  wrote  upon  William  himself. 
They  are  to  be  found  in  Underwoods  and,  purposely  no  doubt, 
deal  with  two  of  the  Earl's  accomplishments  in  which  he 
realized  his  own  excellence,  —  fencing  and  horsemanship  :  1 

They  talk  of  fencing,  and  the  use  of  arms. 

The  art  of  urging  and  avoiding  harms, 

The  noble  science,  and  the  mastering  skill 

Of  making  just  approaches  how  to  kill ; 

To  hit  in  angles  and  to  clash  with  time : 

As  all  defence  or  offence  were  a  chime ! 

I  hate  such  measured,  give  me  mettled,  fire, 

That  trembles  in  the  blaze,  but  then  mounts  higher ! 

A  quick  and  dazzling  motion  ;  when  a  pair 

Of  bodies  meet  like  rarefied  air ! 

Their  weapons  darted  with  that  flame  and  force, 

As  they  out-did  the  lightning  in  the  course ; 

This  were  a  spectacle,  a  sight  to  draw 

Wonder  to  valour !  No,  it  is  the  law 

Of  daring  not  to  do  a  wrong ;  't  is  true 

Valour  to  slight  it,  being  done  to  you. 

To  know  the  heads  of  danger,  where  'tis  fit 

To  bend,  to  break,  provoke  or  suffer  it ; 

All  this,  my  lord,  is  valour :  this  is  yours. 

And  was  your  father's,  all  your  ancestors ! 

Who  durst  live  great  'mongst  all  the  colds  and  heats 

Of  human  life ;  as  all  the  frosts  and  sweats 

Of  fortune,  when  or  death  appear'd  or  bands : 

And  valiant  were,  with  or  without  their  hands. 

^  Jonson,  IX,  15-16. 


90  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

In  the  other  epigram,  dealing  with  Newcastle's  pet  hobby, 
Jonson  rises  to  the  occasion  and  fairly  outdoes  himself :  ^ 

When  first  my  lord,  I  saw  you  back  your  horse, 
Provoke  his  mettle  and  command  his  force 
To  all  the  uses  of  the  field  and  race, 
Methought  I  read  the  ancient  art  of  Thrace, 
And  saw  a  centaur,  past  those  tales  of  Greece, 
So  seem'd  your  horse  and  you  both  of  a  piece ! 
You  shew'd  like  Perseus  upon  Pegasus, 
Or  Castor  mounted  on  his  Cyllarus ; 
Or  what  we  hear  our  home-born  legend  tell. 
Of  bold  Sir  Bevis  and  his  Arundel ; 
Nay,  so  your  seat  his  beauties  did  endorse. 
As  I  began  to  wish  myself  a  horse :  ^ 
And  surely,  had  I  but  your  stable  seen 
Before,  I  think  my  wish  absolv'd  had  been. 
For  never  saw  I  yet  the  Muses  dwell, 
Nor  any  of  their  household,  half  so  well. 
So  well,  as  when  I  saw  the  floor  and  room, 
I  look'd  for  Hercules  to  be  the  groom ; 
And  cried.  Away  with  the  Caesarian  bread ! 
At  these  immortal  mangers  Virgil  fed. 

Just  what  remuneration  the  poet  obtained  for  all  these  labors 
we  do  not  know,  and  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity  it  mattered 
very  little.  By  1629,  however,  after  his  quarrel  with  Inigo 
Jones  and  the  failure  of  The  New  Inn,  things  had  sunk  to  a 
low  ebb  with  Ben.  They  were  made  worse  in  163 1,  when  on 
September  19  the  City  withdrew  his  fees  as  chronologer,  as 
he  announced  to  Newcastle  in  a  famous,  characteristic  phrase  :  ^ 
"  Yesterday  the  barbarous  Court  of  Aldermen  have  withdrawn 

1  Jonson,  VIII,  427-428. 

2  Compare  Sir  Philip  Sidney's  comment  on  John  Pietro  Pugliano's  praise 
of  horsemanship :  "  If  I  had  not  beene  a  peece  of  a  Logician  before  I  came 
to  him,  I  think  he  would  have  perswaded  mee  to  have  wished  my  selfe  a 
horse."  —  Apologie  for  Poetrie,  ed.  E.  Arber,  191 2,  p.  19. 

*  See  Masson's  Milton.,  I,  391 ;  and  Ward's  English  Dramatic  Literature, 
II,  320. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  9I 

their  chanderly  pension  for  verjuice  and  mustard,  ;£33  6s.  8d." 
Naturally  this  letter  contained  a  petition  for  relief  ^  and  a  more 
imperative  note  followed  in  the  next  spring :  ^ 

My  noblest  Lord  and  best  Patron, 

I  send  no  borrowing  epistle  to  provoke  your  lordship,  for  I  have 
neither  fortune  to  repay,  nor  security  to  engage,  that  will  be  taken; 
but  I  make  a  most  humble  petition  to  your  lordship's  bounty  to 
succour  my  present  necessities  this  good  time  of  Easter,  and  it  shall 
conclude  all  begging  requests  hereafter  on  behalf 

of  your  truest  beadsman  and 

most  thankful  servant, 

B.J. 

Newcastle  most  certainly  responded,  for  it  is  evident  that  he 
and  Jonson  were  on  intimate  terms  in  the  ensuing  years.  On 
February  4,  1632,  Ben  says  that  he  is  reluctantly  obeying  his 
patron's  request  to  forward^  ''a  packet  of  my  own  praises; 
which  I  should  not  have  done  if  I  had  any  stock  of  modesty 
in  store  :  —  but  '  obedience  is  better  than  sacrifice,'  —  and  you 
command  it."  Again  the  poet  sent  Cavendish  part  of  a  book 
which  cannot  now  be  identified,  apologizing  for  its  fragmentary 
condition  :  ^ 

It  is  the  lewd  printer's  fault  that  I  can  send  your  lordship  no  more 
of  my  book.  I  sent  you  one  piece  before  the  fair  by  Mr.  Witherington, 
and  now  I  send  you  this  other  morsel.  The  fine  gentleman  that  walks 
the  town ;  the  Fiend ;  but  before  he  will  perfect  the  rest,  I  fear,  he 
will  come  himself  to  be  a  part  under  the  title  of  the  absolute  knave, 
which  he  hath  played  with  me. 

My  printer  and  I  shall  afford  subject  enough  for  a  tragi-comedy ;  for 
with  his  delays  and  vexation,  I  am  almost  become  blind ;  and  if  heaven 
be  so  just,  in  the  metamorphosis  to  turn  him  into  that  creature  which 
he  most  resembles,  a  dog  with  a  bell  to  lead  me  between  Whitehall 
and  my  lodging,  I  may  bid  the  world  good  night. 

And  so  I  do. 

Ben  Jonson. 

1  Jonson,  I,  cxxxiii.  ^  Ibid.,  cxxxiv,  from  Harleian  Ms.  4gsS- 

'  Ibid.,  cxxxv.  *  Ibid.,  cxxxviii,  from  Harleian  Ms.  4gSS' 


92  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Nor  was  the  regard  all  on  one  side,  as  is  so  often  the  case  in 
such  a  relationship.  Newcastle  was  wise  enough  to  see  the 
poet's  real  greatness;  in  fact,  like  so  many  of  the  ''sons  of  Ben," 
he  was  rather  inclined  to  magnify  it.  "I  never,"  says  the 
Duchess  in  her  CCXI  Sociable  Letters,  *'  I  never  heard  any 
man  read  well  but  my  husband ;  and  I  have  heard  him  say, 
he  never  heard  any  man  read  well  but  B.  J. ;  and  yet  he  hath 
heard  many  in  his  time."  ^ 

Naturally  enough,  when  King  Charles  was  to  be  entertained 
at  Welbeck  in  the  spring  of  1633,  Jonson  was  employed  to 
write  the  masque  for  that  occasion.  Love's  Welcome.  The 
Kings  Entertainment  at  Welbeck,  in  Nottinghamshire  is  a 
very  slight  work,  but  it  served  its  purpose  not  unsuccessfully,^ 
though  M.  Montegut  writes  of  it,  "  La  chaleur  et  la  clart6 
manquent  et  ce  masque  qui  dans  des  temps  meilleurs  lui  edt  ete 
une  occasion  de  se  surpasser  est  la  plus  faible  de  ses  oeuvres."  ^ 
''Master  A.  B.  C.  Accidence,  school-master  of  Mansfield,"  and 
"  father  Fitz-Ale,  herald  of  Derby,"  are  the  chief  interlocutors, 
and  the  action  concerns  the  marriage  of  Fitz-Ale's  daughter 
Pem  to  Stub,  a  yeoman  of  that  county.  In  honor  of  his  wed- 
ding he  has  challenged  the  neighbors  to  run  a  course  at  quin- 
tain, and  six  of  them  accept,  attired  respectively  in  red,  green, 
blue,  tawny,  motley,  and  russet  hoods.  These  contestants  ride 
with  varying  luck,  but  considerable  skill  must  have  been  shown 
by  the  losers  as  well  as  by  the  successful  competitors.  At  all 
events,  Charles  was  pleased  with  the  entertainment,  as  he  had 
every  reason  to  be,  since  his  host  spared  neither  cost  nor  pains 
in  preparing  it.  Clarendon  remarks*  that  this  "would  still  be 
thought  very  prodigious  if  the  same  noble  person  had  not  within 
a  year  or  two  afterwards,  made  the  King  and  Queen  a  more 

1  Letter  CCXXIII. 

2  Jonson,  VIII,  1 17-130. 

^  La  Duchesse  et  le  Due  de  Nezvcastle  in  Le  Marichal  Davotit,  1895. 
*  Book  I,  §  167. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  93 

stupendous  entertainment;  which  (God  be  thanked),  though 
possibly  it  might  too  much  whet  the  appetite  of  others  to 
excess,  no  man  ever  after  imitated." 

Jonson  wrote  the  masque  for  this  second  visit  also.^  In  it 
two  quarrelhng  cupids,  Eros  and  Anteros,  are  reconciled  by  the 
peaceful  atmosphere  prevailing  about  the  King  and  Queen, 
but  a  more  interesting  episode  is  that  in  which  the  author 
keenly  satirizes  his  old  enemy,  Inigo  Jones : 

Enter  Coronel  Vitruvius,  speaking  to  some  without. 
Vit.  Come  forth,  boldly  put  forth,  in  your  holiday  clothes,  every 
mother's  son  of  you.  This  is  the  king  and  queen's  majestical  holiday. 
My  lord  has  it  granted  from  them ;  I  had  it  granted  from  my  lord ; 
and  do  give  it  unto  you  gratis ^  that  is  bonafide^  with  the  faith  of  a 
surveyor,  your  coronel  Vitruvius.  Do  you  know  what  a  surveyor  is 
now?  I  tell  you,  a  supervisor.  A  hard  word  that:  but  it  may  be 
softened,  and  brought  in  to  signify  something.  An  overseer  !  one  that 
overseeth  you.  A  busy  man !  and  yet  I  must  seem  busier  than  I  am, 
as  the  poet  sings,  but  which  of  them,  I  will  not  now  trouble  myself 
to  tell  you.'-^ 

Various  mechanics  come  in,  whom  Vitruvius  orders  about,  and 
when  they  begin  to  dance,  he  cries  out : 

Well  done,  my  musical,  arithmetical,  geometrical  gamesters !  or  rather 
my  true  mathematical  boys  !  it  is  carried  in  number,  weight  and  measure, 
as  if  the  airs  were  all  harmony,  and  the  figures  a  well-timed  pro- 
portion !  I  cry  still,  deserve  holidays,  and  have  'em.  I'll  have  a  whole 
quarter  of  the  year  cut  out  for  you  in  holidays,  and  laced  with  statute- 
tunes  and  dances,  fitted  to  the  activity  of  your  tressels  to  which  you 
shall  trust,  lads,  in  the  name  of  your  Iniquo  Vitruvius. 

Whatever  else  it  may  have  lost,  Jonson's  pen  was  not  without 
its  gall  in  his  old  age. 

1  Jonson,  VIII,  131-140.  M.  Montegut  says,  "  Cette  oeuvre  trahit  encore 
plus  que  la  precedente  I'essouflement  de  la  verve.  Mais  elle  est  moins  obscure 
et  va  droit  ^  son  but  par  des  moyens  plus  naturels." 

2  Swinburne  observes  that  Jonson  "  is  as  ready  with  a  quotation  from 
Chaucer  as  Goody  Polish  in  The  Magnetic  Lady  or  Lovel  in  The  New  Inn:' 
—  A  Study  of  Ben  Jonson,  pp.  85-86. 


94  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

This  work  certainly  did  not  go  unrewarded,  as  we  have 
Ben's  letter  of  thanks  for  the  bounty  which  must  have  meant 
so  much  to  him  in  those  needy  last  years :  ^ 

My  noble  Lord,  and  my  best  Patron, 

I  have  done  the  business  your  lordship  trusted  me  with ;  and  the 
morning  after  I  received  by  my  beloved  friend,  master  Payne,  your 
lordship's  timely  gratuity  —  I  style  it  such,  for  it  fell  like  the  dew  of 
heaven  on  my  necessities  —  I  pray  to  God  my  work  may  have  deserved 
it ;  I  meant  it  should  in  the  working  it,  and  I  have  hope  the  perform- 
ance will  conclude  it.  In  the  mean  time,  I  tell  your  lordship  what  I 
seriously  think  —  God  sends  you  these  chargeable  and  magnificent 
honours  of  making  feasts,  to  mix  with  your  charitable  succours,  dropt 
upon  me  your  servant;  who  have  nothing  to  claim  of  merit  but  a 
cheerful  undertaking  whatsoever  your  lordship's  judgment  thinks  me 
able  to  perform.  I  am  in  the  number  of  your  humblest  servants,  my 
lord,  and  the  most  willing;  and  do  joy  in  the  good  friendship  and 
fellowship  of  my  right  learned  friend,  master  Payne,  than  whom  your 
lordship  could  not  have  employed  a  more  diligent  and  judicious  man, 
or  that  hath  treated  me  with  more  humanity  ;  which  makes  me  cheer- 
fully to  insert  myself  into  your  lordship's  commands,  and  so  sure  a 
clientele.  Wholly  and  only  your  lordship's 

Ben  Jonson. 

Among  all  Cavendish's  proteges  none  is  more  pathetic  than 
this  once  prosperous  author,  his  proud  head  now  bowed  in 
servility  as  the  price  of  a  rich  man's  munificence. 

By  this  time  Newcastle's  open-handedness  must  have  been 
common  knowledge,  for  in  1634,  the  year  of  the  Bolsover  enter- 
tainment, John  Ford  dedicated  to  him  that  remarkable  play, 
The  Chronicle  Historie  of  Perkin  Warbeck.  It  is  evident  from 
the  style  of  this  address  that  he  of  the  ''  folded  arms  and  melan- 
choly hat "  had  as  yet  received  no  favors  from  Cavendish  but 
was  merely  making  an  effort  to  gain  the  nobleman's  attention: 2 

Eminent  tides  may,  indeed,  inform  who  their  owners  are,  not  often 
what.  To  yours  the  addition  of  that  information  in  both  cannot  in 
any  application  be  observed  flattery,  the  authority  being  established  by 

1  Jonson,  I,  cxxxix-cxl.  ^  Pord's  Works,  ed.  Gifford-Dyce,  II,  112. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  MAECENAS"  95 

truth.  I  can  only  acknowledge  the  errors  in  writing  mine  own ;  the 
worthiness  of  the  subject  written  being  a  perfection  in  the  story  and 
of  it.  The  custom  of  your  lordship's  entertainments  — even  to  strangers 
—  is  rather  an  example  than  a  fashion :  in  which  consideration  I  dare 
not  profess  a  curiosity ;  but  am  only  studious  that  your  lordship  will 
please,  amongst  such  as  best  honour  your  goodness,  to  admit  into 
your  noble  construction  John  Ford. 

That  philosophy  as  well  as  literature  interested  Newcastle, 
his  friendship  with  Thomas  Hobbes  bears  witness.  The  first 
we  hear  of  this  relationship  is  in  a  letter  from  the  philosopher 
dated  January  26,  1633-1634,  and  during  the  three  years  that 
followed  he  frequently  wrote  to  Welbeck.  Hobbes  was  at  this 
time  tutor  to  the  young  Earl  of  Devonshire  (also  a  William 
Cavendish,  and  cousin  to  our  hero),  with  whom  he  later  made 
an  extended  tour  on  the  Continent.    He  writes  :  ^ 

My  first  businesse  in  London,  was  to  seeke  for  Galileo's  Dialogues ; 
I  thought  it  a  very  good  bargain,  when  at  taking  my  leave  of  your 
Lordship  I  undertooke  to  buy  it  for  you,  but  if  your  Lordship  should 
bind  me  to  performance  it  would  be  bad  enough,  for  it  is  not  possible 
to  get  it  for  money.  There  were  but  few  brought  over  at  first  and  they 
that  buy  such  bookes,  are  not  such  men  as  to  part  with  them  againe. 
I  heare  say  it  is  called  in,  in  Italy,  as  a  booke  that  will  do  more  hurt 
to  their  religion  then  all  the  bookes  have  done  of  Luther  and  Calvin, 
such  opposition  they  thinke  is  between  their  religion  and  naturall 
reason.  I  doubt  not  but  the  translation  of  it  will  here  be  publiquely 
embraced,  and  therefore  wish  extremely  that  Dr.  Webbe  would  hasten 
it.  There  is  no  news  at  Court  but  of  maskes,  which  is  a  stay  to  my 
Lords  going  to  Oxford  because  he  is  one  of  the  maskers,  which  I  am 
glad  of  for  this  cause,  that  I  shall  have  the  more  time  for  the  business 
I  have  so  long  owed  to  your  Lordship,  whose  continual  favors  make 
me  ashamed  of  my  dull  proceedings,  savinge  that  into  the  number  of 
these  favours  I  put  your  Lordship's  patience  and  forbearance  of  me. 

On  August  25,  1635,  Hobbes  writes  at  some  length  from 
Paris.2  He  begins  by  thanking  Newcastle  for  a  gift,  but  with 
a  finer  spirit  than  is  noticeable  in  many  dependents : 

1  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  124.  2  jbid.,  II,  125-126. 


96  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

If  the  world  saw  my  little  desert,  so  plainely  as  they  see  your  great 
rewards,  they  might  thinke  me  a  mountibancke  and  that  all  that  I  do 
or  would  do,  were  in  the  hope  of  what  I  receave.  I  hope  your  Lord- 
ship does  not  think  so,  at  least  let  me  tell  your  Lordship  once  for  all, 
that  though  I  honour  you  as  my  Lord,  yet  my  love  to  you  is  just  of 
the  same  nature  that  it  is  to  Mr.  Payne,  bred  out  of  private  talke, 
without  respect  to  your  purse. 

Then  follows  some  news  of  a  horse  called  Le  Superbe,  which 
may  be  coupled  with  Hobbes's  pamphlet  entitled  '*  Considera- 
tions touching  the  facility  or  Difficulty  of  the  Motions  of  a 
Horse  on  streight  lines,  &.  Circular,"  ^  to  show  that  the  phi- 
losopher had  some  slight  knowledge  of  horsemanship.  His 
letter  goes  on  to  cast  grave  doubts  upon  the  pretensions  of  a 
Mr.  Warner,  who  claims  that  he  has  invented  a  multiplying 
glass  and  a  burning  glass  of  infinite  strength ;  even  if  the 
theories  be  correct,  says  Hobbes,  it  may  be  impracticable  and 
hence  useless.  Evidently  he  distrusted  the  Earl's  excessive 
generosity,  for  he  adds : 

I  hope  your  Lordship  will  not  bestow  too  much  upon  the  hopes; 
but  suffer  the  liberall  sciences  to  be  liberall,  and  after  some  worthy 
effort  your  Lordship  then  may  be  liberall  also,  as  I  doubt  not  but 
you  will. 

Finally,  some  of  the  writer's  own  early  ambitions  peep  out 
from  this  advice  concerning  Warner : 

For  the  soule  I  know  he  has  nothing  to  give  your  Lordship  any 
satisfaction.  I  would  he  could  give  good  reasons  for  the  f acuity es  and 
passions  of  the  soule,  such  as  may  be  expressed  in  playne  English,  if 
he  can,  he  is  the  first  —  that  I  ever  heard  of  —  could  speake  sense  in 
that  subject.    If  he  cannot,  I  hope  to  be  the  first. 

By  June  13,  1636,  the  travellers,  after  many  months  in 
Italy,  were  at  Paris  again,  where  the  tutor  seems  to  have 
chafed  under  his  pupil's  continuous  activity  :  ^  < 

1  Preserved  in  the  library  at  Welbeck.  See  S.  A.  Strong's  Catalogue^  where 
it  is  reprinted,  p.  237.  2  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  128. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  97 

Wee  are  unsettled,  I  have  no  time  —  for  going  up  and  downe  with 
my  Lord  —  neyther  for  myself,  nor  for  Mydorgius,  nor  for  bookes. 
All  I  study  is  a  Nights,  and  that  for  a  little  while  is  the  reading  of 
certayne  new  bookes,  especially  Mr.  Seldens  Mare  Clausum  and  a 
booke  of  my  Lord  of  Castle  Islands  concerning  truth,  which  is  a 
high  point.^ 

On  July  29  he  proclaims  the  uncertainty  of  all  science :  ^ 

In  thinges  that  are  not  demonstrable,  of  which  kind  is  the  greatest 
part  of  naturall  philosophy,  as  dependinge  upon  the  motion  of  bodies 
so  subtile  as  they  are  invisible,  such  as  are  ayre  and  spirits,  the  most 
that  can  be  atteyned  unto  is  to  have  such  opinions,  as  no  certayne 
experience  can  confute,  and  from  which  can  be  deduced  by  lawfull 
argumentation,  no  absurdity,  and  such  are  your  Lordship's  opinions 
in  your  letter  of  the  3rd  of  July  which  I  had  the  honour  to  receave  the 
last  weeke ;  namely.  That  the  variety  of  thinges  is  but  variety  of  locall 
motion  in  the  spirits  or  invisible  partes  of  bodies.  And  that  such 
motion  is  heate. 

He  goes  on  to  attack  Warner  again,  this  time  criticizing  his 
tract  on  the  place  of  the  image  in  concave  or  convex  glasses 
and  suggesting  other  explanations  to  account  for  the  phenomena. 
The  conclusion  apparently  refers  to  Cavendish's  disappointed 
office-seeking : 

I  am  sorry  your  Lordship  finds  not  so  good  dealing  in  the  world  as 
you  deserve.  But  my  Lord,  he  that  will  venture  to  sea  must  resolve 
to  endure  all  weather,  but  for  my  part  I  love  to  keepe  a'land.  And  it 
may  be  your  Lordship  now  will  do  so  to,  whereby  I  may  have  the 
happinesse  which  your  Lordship  partly  promises  me  in  the  end  of 
your  letter,  to  conferre  meditations  for  a  good  time  together,  which 
will  be  not  onely  honour  to  me,  but  that  happinesse  which  I  and  all 
that  are  in  love  with  knowledge,  use  to  fancy  to  themselves  for  the 
true  happinesse  in  this  life. 

The  letter  of  October  16  is  written  from  Byfleet,^  "  which 
is  the  period  of  my  Lords  travel  but  not  of  mine.  For 
though  my  Lady  and  my  Lord  do  both  accept  so  well  of  my 

1  Lord  Herbert  of  Cherbury's  De  Veritate. 

2  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  128-129.  8  Jbid.,  II,  129-130. 


98  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

service,  as  I  could  almost  engage  my  self  to  serve  them  as  a 
domestique  all  my  life,  yet  the  extreame  pleasure  I  take  in 
study,  overcomes  in  me  all  other  appetites.  I  am  not  willing 
to  leave  my  Lord,  so  as  not  to  do  him  any  service  that  he 
thinkes  may  not  so  well  be  done  by  another ;  but  I  must  not 
deny  my  selfe  the  content  to  study  in  the  way  I  have  begun, 
and  that  I  cannot  conceave  I  shall  do  anywhere  so  well  as  at 
Welbecke,  and  therefore  I  meane  if  your  Lordship  forbid  me 
not,  to  come  thither  as  soone  as  I  can,  and  stay  as  long  as  I 
can  without  inconvenience  to  your  Lordship."  The  rest  of 
this  epistle  is  a  treatise  on  the  inverted  position  of  an  object 
shown  on  white  paper  when  the  light  has  passed  through  a 
hole ;  truly  no  subject  was  too  complicated  or  too  insignificant 
to  occupy  the  mind  of  Thomas  Hobbes.  The  last  letters^ 
of  this  series  reiterate  acknowledgments  for  favors  received 
and  plans  for  coming  soon  to  visit  the  Earl :  ''I  expect  now 
onely  a  safe  time  of  travelling  to  come  to  wayte  upon  your 
Lordship  at  Welbeck  —  the  sicknesse  now  decreasinge  — 
I  hope  may  be  within  little  more  then  a  moneth." 

It  is  doubtful  whether  the  visit  ever  took  place.  Newcastle 
was  at  this  time  entangled  in  court  politics.  He  soon  obtained 
the  long-coveted  appointment  as  governor  to  Prince  Charles, 
and  from  then  until  after  Marston  Moor  his  active  life  allowed 
small  leisure  for  contemplation.  The  truth  is,  that  this  interest 
in  philosophy  and  science,  although  not  confined  to  his  asso- 
ciation with  Hobbes,^  was,  like  his  other  activities,  only  a 
pastime.  When  nothing  more  important  came  to  hand,  the 
Earl  no  doubt  felt  a  genuine  curiosity  in  the  fundamental 
principles  of  human  nature  and  in  the  system  of  society  to  be 


1  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  130. 

2  See  a  letter  to  him  from  Matthew  Boucherett  on  certain  mineral  waters, 
Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  131 ;  and  his  "  Opinion"  added  to  the  1663  edition  of  Philo- 
sophical and  Physical  Opinions. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS"  99 

built  upon  them,  as  Hobbes  tells  us  in  his  dedication  ^  to  The 
Elements  of  Law,  Natural  and  Politique.  Nevertheless  Caven- 
dish was  incapable  of  giving  himself  up  wholeheartedly  to  that 
or  any  other  project.  For  the  next  few  years  public  life  was 
to  engross  all  his  energies ;  yet,  when  in  Paris  he  again  encoun- 
tered Hobbes's  tremendous  personality,  they  easily  slipped  back 
into  their  former  relationship.  But  of  that  more  in  its  place. 
Meanwhile,  the  art  of  painting  was  receiving  Newcastle's 
patronage.  We  have  a  letter  written  by  him  to  Sir  Anthony 
Van  Dyck  in  February,  1 636-1 637,  which  shows  his  intimate 
acquaintance  with  that  fashionable  artist :  ^ 

The  favours  of  my  friends  you  have  so  transmitted  unto  me  as  the 
longer  I  looke  on  them  the  more  I  think  them  nature  and  not  art. 
It  is  not  my  error  alone.  If  it  be  a  disease,  it  is  epidemical,  for  such 
power  hath  your  hand  on  the  eyes  of  mankind.  Next  the  blessing  of 
your  company  and  sweetness  of  conversation,  the  greatest  blessing 
were  to  be  an  Argus  or  all  over  but  one  eye,  so  it  or  they  were  ever 
fixed  upon  that  which  we  must  call  yours.  What  wants  in  judgment, 
I  can  supply  with  admiration,  and  scape  the  title  of  ignorance  since  I 
have  the  luck  to  be  astonished  in  the  right  place,  and  the  happiness 
to  be  passionately  your  humble  servant. 

That  the  nobleman  sporadically  continued  this  enthusiasm  for 
pictorial  art  may  be  imagined  well.  In  Antwerp  he  and  his 
wife  often  had  their  portraits  painted  by  Abraham  Diepenbeck, 
and  they  lived  in  a  house  which  belonged  to  the  widow  of  that 
artist's  master,  '*a  famous  picture-drawer.  Van  Ruben."  ^ 

Newcastle  seems  to  have  patronized  also  a  minor  poet  named 
William  Sampson,^  for  in  1636  that  author  addressed  to  him 
the  opening  lines  of  Virtus  post  Funera  vivity  or  Honour 
Tryumphing  over  Deaths  being  true  Epitomes  of  Honorable^ 

1  Dated  May  9,  1640,  but  the  book  was  not  published  until  1650  and  then 
broken  up  into  two  parts. 

2  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  131. 

*  The  Duchess's  Life  of  her  husband,  ed.  Firth,  p.  50. 

*  The  article  on  William  Sampson  in  Diet.  Nat.  Biog. 


lOO  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Noble y  Learned^  and  Hospitable  Personages.  The  Cavendishes 
fare  exceedingly  well  in  this  work,  which  is  dedicated  in  prose 
to  Christian,  dowager  Countess  of  Devon,  and  in  verse  to 
Charles,  Viscount  Mansfield,  Newcastle's  elder  son;  Elizabeth 
Talbot,  the  Earl's  grandmother,  and  William,  Earl  of  Devon, 
are  among  the  thirty-two  persons  commemorated  in  heroic 
couplets.  There  is  likewise  extant  an  unprinted  poem  by 
Sampson,  inscribed  to  Margaret  Cavendish,  Marchioness  of 
Newcastle,  and  entitled  Love's  Metamorphosis,  or  Apollo  and 
Daphne?-  Sampson  was  a  yeoman's  son  and  by  profession  a 
serving  man,  so  that  his  deference  seems  quite  natural.  It  is 
only  to  be  wondered  at  that  he  did  not  earlier  attempt  to 
interest  Cavendish  in  certain  plays  of  his,  which  are  now 
better  known  than  his  poetry. 

II 

PATRONAGE  IN  PROSPERITY  (1636-1644) 

Among  the  more  prominent  dramatists  associated  with 
Newcastle  was  James  Shirley,  who,  like  Ford,  first  attracted 
his  patron's  notice  by  dedicating  a  play  to  him.  In  1635  The 
Traitor  v^dc^  published,  upon  presenting  which  the  author  wrote : 

My  Lord, 

The  honour  of  your  name,  and  clearness  of  soul,  which  want  no  liv- 
ing monuments  in  the  heart  of  princes,  have  already  made  the  title  of 
this  poem  innocent,  though  not  the  author ;  who  confesseth  his  guilt 
of  a  long  ambition,  by  some  service  to  be  known  to  you,  and  his  bold- 
ness at  last,  by  this  rude  attempt  to  kiss  your  Lordship's  hands. 

This  application  was  evidently  successful,  for  we  soon  find  the 
two  men  on  familiar  terms.    Wood  in  his  AthencE  Oxoniejises 

'^  Harleian  Ms.  6g4y  (Nos.  41  ff.,  318-336)  in  Did.  Nat.  Biog.,  article  on 
William  Sampson.  The  first  line  runs,  "  Scarce  had  Aurora  showne  her 
crimson  face." 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENA$  "  ;"  '•  rdl' 

says  of  Shirley  that  '*  when  the  rebeUion  broke  out,  and  he 
thereupon  forced  to  leave  London,  and  so  consequently  his 
wife  and  children  (who  afterwards  were  put  to  their  shifts)  he 
was  invited  by  his  most  noble  patron  William,  earl  (afterwards 
marquess  and  duke)  of  Newcastle  to  take  his  fortune  with  him 
in  the  wars,  for  that  count  had  engaged  him  so  much  by  his 
generous  liberality  towards  him,  that  he  thought  he  could  not 
do  a  worthier  act,  than  to  serve  him  and  so  consequently  his 
prince."  The  only  extraneous  confirmation  this  fact  receives 
is  to  be  found  in  the  last  stanza  of  Shirley's  song  To  Odelia} 
but  the  testimony  seems  circumstantial  enough :  ^ 

Cherish  that  heart,  Odelia,  that  is  mine, 

And  if  the  north  thou  fear. 

Dispatch  but  from  thy  southern  clime 

A  sigh,  to  warm  thine  here ; 

But  be  so  kind 
To  send  by  the  next  wind, 
'Tis  far. 
And  many  accidents  do  wait  on  war. 

Among  Shirley's  miscellaneous  poems  there  is  also  one 
to  Newcastle .  himself,  which  could  not  have  been  written 
before  1642  i^ 

Hail,  great  preserver  of  the  king, 
And  your  own  honour  !    Such  a  thing 
At  court  but  rare  appears ; 
And  when  in  calmer  years 
So  much  virtue,  so  much  crime 
Shall  be  read  both  at  one  time, 
Treason  shall  want  a  child,  and,  your  worth  known, 
Posterity  shall  thank  the  kingdom's  groan. 

1  Shirley's  Works,  ed.  Dyce,  II,  408. 

*  Nason  in  James  Shirley,  Dramatist,  p.  137,  thinks  this  is  purely  Cavalier 
lyric  convention,  but  it  sounds  rather  too  specific  for  that. 
«  Shirley,  II,  435. 


■'I6i'^  ""-TIIE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

When  I  before  did  fancy  men 
Of  a  most  glorious  soul,  my  pen 
Did  prophesy  of  you 
To  whom  so  much  is  due 
That  each  patriot  must  rise 
To  court  you  with  a  sacrifice, 
And  boldest  writers  telling  ages  why, 
Need  fear  no  fiction  in  their  poetry. 

Great  both  in  peace  and  war,  thus  fame 
Did  honour  Sidney  ;  on  your  name 
*  Two  laurels  grow,  and  they 

That  speak  them  both,  may  say, 
Thus  the  fluent  Ovid  wrote. 
And  thus,  too,  wise  Caesar  fought. 
For  when  your  story  shall  be  perfect,  you 
May  both  deserve,  and  have  their  envies  too. 

Wood  further  states  that  ''  our  author  Shirley  did  also  much 
assist  his  generous  patron  William  duke  of  Newcastle  in  the 
composure  of  certain  plays,  which  the  duke  afterwards  pub- 
lished," and  this  has  been  conclusively  proved  in  the  case  of 
at  least  one,  TAe  Country  Captain.  Dyce  was  the  first  to  point 
out  that  the  song  at  the  beginning  of  Act  IV,  "Come  let  us 
throw  the  dice,"  ^  occurs  as  a  sort  of  rebus  among  Shirley's 
poems,  but  there  is  evidence  still  more  striking.  In  1883 
Mr.  A.  H.  Bullen  published  in  the  second  volume  of  his 
Collection  of  Old  English  Plays  an  anonymous  and  unnamed 
comedy  which  he  had  found  in  the  Harleian  Manuscript  y6^0? 
He  followed  Halliwell  {Dictionary  of  Old  English  Plays^) 
in  calling  it  Captain  Underwit  and  attributed  it  to  James 
Shirley,  saying : 

In  the  notes  I  have  pointed  out  several  parallelisms  to  passages  in 
Shirley's  plays ;  and  occasionally  we  find  actual  repetitions,  word  for 
word.    But  apart  from  these  strong  proofs,  it  would  be  plain  from 

1  Dyce's  Introduction  to  Shirley's  Works,  pp.  xlii-xliii,  and  VI,  439. 

2  Bullen,  Old  English  Plays,  II,  315-316.  »  P.  42. 


''OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  103 

internal  evidence  that  the  present  piece  is  a  domestic  comedy  of 
Shirley's,  written  in  close  imitation  of  Ben  Jonson.  All  the  characters 
are  old  acquaintances.  Sir  Richard  Huntlove,  who  longs  to  be  among 
his  own  tenants  and  eat  his  own  beef  in  the  country ;  his  lady,  who 
loves  the  pleasures  of  the  town,  balls  in  the  Strand,  and  masques; 
Device,  the  fantastic  gallant,  —  these  are  well-known  figures  in  Shirley's 
plays.  No  other  playwright  of  that  day  could  have  given  us  such 
exquisite  poetry  as  we  find  in  "  Captain  Underwit."  The  briskness, 
too,  and  cleverness  of  the  dialogue  closely  recall  Shirley. 

Now  the  remarkable  thing  about  this  higher  criticism  of 
Mr.  Bullen's  is  that  the  play  under  consideration  is  Newcastle's 
Cotmtry  Captain.  In  all  essentials  the  two  works  are  identical 
and  their  differences  only  show  that  the  manuscript  preserves 
its  original  form,  which,  with  the  cuts  and  additions  suggested 
in  acting,  gives  the  printed  version.  Many  lines  are  omitted,^ 
long  speeches  are  broken  up  by  ejaculations  from  the  other 
characters,^  additional  coarseness  is  injected,^  and  there  are 
one  or  two  rearrangements  of  material.^    In  a  word,  all  variants 

1  77ie  Country  Captain  omits  the  whole  interview  between  Sir  Richard, 
the  Captain,  and  Engine  in  Act  V  {Captain  Underwit,  pp.  408-409)  and  all 
mention  of  the  latter  at  the  final  curtain  {Captain  Underwit,  p.  415) ;  in  Act  IV 
some  fifteen  short  speeches  are  left  out  of  the  drunken  scene  ( Captain  Under- 
wit, pp.  378-379),  and  Thomas's  part  receives  curtailment  both  here  and 
in  the  first  two  acts  {Captain  Underwit,  pp.381,  322,  338);  the  scornful  dia- 
logue between  Courtwell  and  the  sister  is  somewhat  cut  {Captain  Underwit, 
pp.  382-383). 

2  Sir  Richard's  long  disquisition  on  the  pleasures  of  the  country  is  inter- 
rupted in  the  printed  play  by  interjections  of  the  Lady's,  "  Soe  Sir,"  "  You  are 
pleasant,  Sir,"  which  would  naturally  tend  to  relieve  monotony  {Country 
Captain,  pp.  8-9 ;   Captain  Unde?wit,  pp.  324-325). 

8  Device's  satirical  utterance  on  these  same  country  pleasures  is  further 
spiced  to  gain  the  plaudits  of  an  audience  {Country  Captain,  p.  15;  Captain 
Underwit,  p.  332). 

*  Sir  Francis  does  not  tell  Engine  he  knows  him,  when  announcing  that  a 
man  of  that  name  is  to  be  hanged,  and  thereby  makes  the  situation  much  more 
amusing  {Captain  Underwit,  p.  354).  Act  IV  not  only  includes  the  dicing 
song,  mentioned  in  the  text,  but  has  incorporated  in  it  a  drunken  scene  with 
musicians  which  appeared  at  the  end  of  the  earlier  copy  but  which  Bullen 
placed  at  the  very  beginning  of  this  act  {Country  Captain,  pp.  58-61  ;  Cap- 
tain Underwit,  pp- 373-376). 


I04  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

from  the  original  version  were  made  for  dramatic  effect,  and 
some  practical  man  of  the  theatre  may  be  held  responsible 
for  them. 

That  Shirley  had  a  large  share  in  the  earlier  form  of  The 
Country  Captam  is  quite  indisputable  after  the  evidence 
brought  forward  by  Bullen,  and  more  recently  by  Dr.  R.  S. 
Forsythe  in  The  Relations  of  Shirley  s  Plays  to  the  Eliza- 
bethan Drama.  Each  of  the  strands  in  its  triple  plot  has  an 
analogue  in  Shirley's  acknowledged  plays :  ^  Lady  Huntlove's 
dangerous  intrigue  with  Sir  Francis  Courtwell  and  subsequent 
reconciliation  with  her  husband  is  the  story  of  Sir  Thomas 
and  Lady  Bornwell  in  The  Lady  of  Pleasure ;  Master  Court- 
well's  jeering  wooing  of  the  Sister  resembles  that  of  Carol  by 
Fairchild  in  Hyde  Park ;  while  the  waiting  maid  Dorothy's 
deception  of  Captain  Underwit  comes  from  the  similar  trick 
played  on  Sir  Nicholas  Treedle  by  Sensible  in  The  Witty 
Fair  One,  The  foolish  servant  Thomas  falls  naturally  into 
place  with  Treedle's  Tutor,  and  Device  draws  his  affectations 
through  Caperwit  of  Love  irt  a  Maze  from  their  common 
progenitor.  Master  Matthew  of  Every  Man  in  His  Humour. 
Indeed,  the  Jonsonian  influence  runs  throughout  this  whole 
drama,  although  often  turned  into  unaccustomed  channels  by 
the  leaven  of  Shirley's  romantic  manner,  which  cannot  con- 
ceal that  the  humor  of  Underwit  is  that  of  Master  Stephen, 
that  Captain  Sackbury  is  a  lesser  Bobadill,  and  that  the  very 
name  of  Engine  suggests  the  projector  Meercraft's  assistant 
in  The  Devil  is  an  Ass?  Engine's  proposed  monopoly  of 
periwigs^  is  thought  by  KoeppeH  to  be  copied  from  Brome's 
Court  Beggar^  as  it  may  be,   but  in  the  last  analysis  both 

1  Forsythe,  p.  424. 

2  M.  Kerr's  The  Influence  of  Ben  Jonson  on  English  Comedy ^  pp.  11 2-1 17. 
8  Bullen,  p.  354. 

*  Ben  Jonson' s  Wirkung,  p.  179. 
6  Act  I,  scene  i,  Works,  I,  192. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  105 

situations  go  back  to  father  Ben's  inventive  genius.  The  Jon- 
sonian  touches  are  no  doubt  due  to  Newcastle's  loyal  sonship, 
but  these  are  greatly  in  the  minority  and  it  is  Shirley  who 
really  directs  The  Country  Captai7is  progress.  Its  conclusion 
sees  the  two  unsuccessful  sinners,  Sir  Francis  Courtwell  and 
Lady  Huntlove,  forswear  all  further  evil  intentions  with  a 
fervor  that  would  do  justice  to  sentimental  comedy,  but  with 
that  lack  of  sincerity  which  distinguishes  Shirley's  numerous  ^ 
and  superficial  conversions. 

Not  only  does  the  general  course  of  the  plot  suggest  this 
dramatist's  workmanship  but  specific  resemblances  to  his 
authentic  plays  abound.  Forsythe  has  pointed  out^  that  the 
law- French  3  suggests  Shirley's  hand,  that  the  intriguer's 
efforts  to  gain  a  rendezvous  are  not  unlike  Fowler's  pre- 
tended sickness  in  The  Witty  Fair  One,^  and  that  the  latter's 
mock  praise  of  Penelope's  charms^  parallels  Master  Court- 
well's  irony  to  the  Sister.^  He  also  comments  significantly 
on  the  word  ''  rotten,"  ^  occurring  in  The  Humorous  Courtier 
(III,  I)  and  The  Constant  Maid  (III,  2),  with  the  meaning 
''to  have  by  heart,"  for  which  Bullen  mistakenly  conjectured 
"  rooted."  Bullen  himself  noted  that  Device's  allusion  to  the 
scholar  authors  who  refuse  to  take  money  for  their  work  is 
repeated  by  Treedle  in  The  Witty  Fair  One  (IV,  2),^  and 
that  the  Sister's  parody  on  Master  Courtwell's  ornate  speech 
runs  in  the  vein  of  Celestina's  rebuff  to  Lord  A  in  The 
Lady  of  Pleasure  (V,  i).^  In  The  Dukes  Mistress  (IV,  i) 
appear  the  lines. 

You  shall  lead  destiny  in  cords  of  silk, 

And  it  shall  follow  tame  and  to  your  pleasure, 

1  Forsythe,  pp.  58,  71.  ^  Bullen,  p.  383. 

2  Pp.  426-428.  7  Ibid.,  p.  366. 

*  Bullen,  p.  351.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  330. 

*  Act  III,  scene  iv.  ^  Ibid.,  p.  350. 
^  Act  I,  scene  iii. 


I06  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

which  may  be  compared  with  The  Country  Captains 

We  will  make  lawes  to  love ;  teach  him  new  motion 
Or  chaine  him  with  the  cordage  of  his  haire.^ 

What  is  more,  Bullen  has  discovered  one  line  which  appears 
identically  in  The  Bird  in  a  Cage  (IV,  i)  r^ 

She  and  the  horse 
That  snorts  at  Spain  by  an  instinct  of  nature 
Should  have  shown  tricks  together. 

In  Act  V  Engine  says  : 

In  a  puppet  play 
Were  but  my  storie  written  by  some  scholler, 
Twould  put  downe  hocas  pocas  and  the  tumblers 
And  draw  more  audience  than  the  Motion 
Of  Ninevie  or  the  dainty  docile  horse 
That  snorts  at  Spaine  by  an  instinct  of  Nature. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  in  The  Country  Captain  none  of  the 
lines  are  printed  as  blank  verse,^  but  that  many  of  them 
ought  to  be,  seems  plain  on  the  most  cursory  reading.  Indeed, 
there  is  throughout  this  play  abundant  evidence  of  a  poetic 
vein  not  found  elsewhere  in  Cavendish's  literary  accomplish- 
ment. For  instance,  when  Device  refuses  to  defend  himself 
against  the  Sister's  attack  his  speech  cannot  be  mistaken  for 
prose,  even  though  printed  as  such :  ^ 

I  'le  rather  bleede  to  death  then  lift  a  sworde  |  in  my  defence ; 
whose  inconsiderate  brightnesse  |  may  fright  the  roses  from  your 
Cheekes,  and  leave  |  the  lyllyes  to  Lament  the  rude  divorce:  |  but 
were  a  man  to  dare  me,  and  your  enemie,  |  my  rage  more  nimble 
then  the  Median  shaft  |  should  flye  into  his  bosome,  and  your  eye 
1  change  Anger  into  smiles,  to  see  me  fight.  [ 

1  Bullen,  p.  353. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  409.    Engine's  lines  do  not  occur  in  The  Country  Captain. 

8  Except  in  Act  II  where  the  Sister  bids  Courtwell  to  woo  her  in  that  fash- 
ion, and  there  of  course  it  is  labelled.  This  episode  occurs  on  pages  34-35. 
In  Captain  Underwit^  however,  division  into  lines  has  been  made.    See  above. 

*  Country  Captain^  p.  8o. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  107 

And   Shirley's   fine   Italian   hand   may   also   be    detected    in 
Sir  Francis's  dream  :  ^ 

What  ?  have  I  slept  ?  some  witchcraft  did  betray 

My  eyes  to  so  much  darkness,  yet  my  dreame 

Was  full  of  rapture,  such  as  I  with  all 

My  wakinge  sence  would  fly  to  meete ;  me  thought 

I  saw  a  thousand  cupids  slyde  from  heaven 

And  landing  heere  made  this  there  scene  of  Revells 

Clappinge  their  goulden  feathers,  which  kept  time 

While  their  own  feete  struck  musick  to  their  dance 

As  they  had  trod,  and  touched  so  many  Lutes : 

This  done  within  a  cloude  form'd  like  a  throne, 

She  to  whom  love  had  consecrate  this  night, 

My  Mistresse,  did  descend,  and  cominge  towards  me 

My  soule  that  ever  wakes,  angry  to  see 

My  body  made  a  prisoner,  and  so  mock'd, 

Shook  of  the  chaines  of  sleepe,  least  I  should  loose 

Essentiall  pleasure  for  a  dreame.   Tis  happie : 

I  will  not  trust  my  selfe  with  ease  and  silence 

But  walke  and  wayte  her  comming  that  must  blesse  me. 

The  Country  Captain  is  easily  the  best  of  the  dramatic  work 
ascribed  to  Newcastle,  a  fact  we  must  lay  to  Shirley's  credit, 
for  its  similarity  to  his  other  plays  in  general  outline  as  well 
as  in  detail  is  marked  and  Cavendish's  unassisted  productions 
are  decidedly  inferior.  This  verdict  has  been  generally  ac- 
cepted by  modem  scholars,  including  Swinburne,^  Gosse,^ 
Koeppel,*  Firth,^  and  Forsythe ;  ^  the  only  real  "^  dissenter  is 
Fleay,^  who  seems  to  have  been  actuated  by  personal  pique 

1  Country  Captain,  p.  74  ;  and  BuUen,  pp.  393-394. 

*  Fortnightly  Review,  April,  1890,  p.  476. 

*  Mermaid  Series,  volume  of  Shirley's  plays,  Introduction,  p.  xxv. 

*  Shakespeare's  Wirkung,  p.  64;  and  Benjonson's  Wirkung,  p.  178. 
^  Pp.  xvii-xviii. 

6  Pp.  419-422. 

^  Ward  does  not  altogether  accept  Bullen's  ascription  to  Shirley,  III,  120; 
also  see  Nason,  pp.  153,  452. 

^  Chronicle  of  the  English  Drama,  I,  48-49. 


io8  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

against  Bullen.  Forsythe^  goes  so  far  as  to  suggest  the  iden- 
tification of  this  play  with  Looke  to  the  Ladie,  a  lost  drama 
of  Shirley's  which  was  entered  in  the  Stationers  Register^ 
March  ii,  1639-1640,^  but  apparently  never  printed  nor  acted 
under  that  name.  About  this  time  the  author  returned  from 
his  Irish  sojourn,  and  although  there  is  evidently  some  con- 
nection between  his  reappearance  in  London  and  the  unful- 
filled entry,  just  what  it  is  has  never  been  satisfactorily 
explained.  Forsythe  offers  the  hypothesis^  that  "Williams 
and  Egglesfield  (the  would-be  publishers)  had  obtained  a 
MS.  of  Captain  Underwit,  which  they  renamed,  and  were 
preparing  to  publish  as  Shirley's  when  that  author  returning 
to  England  discovered  their  intention  and  put  a  stop  to  the 
publication  of  the  play."  This  suggestion  necessarily  throws 
the  date  of  The  Country  Captain  back  before  1636,  when 
Shirley  left  England,  a  theory  which  may  be  supported  by  two 
independent  considerations.  Pepys  saw  the  comedy  revived  on 
October  26,  1661,  and  records  that  this  was  *'the  first  time  it 
hath  been  acted  this  twenty-five  years,  a  play  of  my  Lord 
Newcastle's,  but  so  silly  a  play  as  in  all  my  life  I  never  saw, 
and  the  first  that  ever  I  was  weary  of  in  my  life  "  ;  a  judg- 
ment this  indefatigable  theatre-goer  confirmed  when  he  saw 
it  performed  again  on  November  25  of  that  same  year,  on 
August  14,  1667,  and  May  14,  1668,  for  each  time  it  is  labelled 
''  a  dull  play  "  or  ''a  very  ordinary  play."  Pepys's  ''  twenty-five 
years"  if  taken  literally  would  settle  1636  as  the  date  of  its 
first  production,  but  we  are  hardly  justified  in  being  so  pre- 
cise when  dealing  with  such  a  palpable  round  number  and 
such  an  inaccurate  historian. 

The  other  evidence  for  placing  this  comedy  before  Shirley's 
removal  to  Ireland  is  an  allusion  to  the  ''  Proclamation  com- 
manding the  gentry  to  keep  their  residence  in  at  their  mansions 

^  Pp.  422-424.    2  Stationers^  Register^  transcribed  by  Arber,  IV,  501.    ^  P.  422. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  109 

in  the  Country  and  forbidding  them  to  make  their  habitations 
in  London  and  places  adjoining,"  which  was  promulgated 
June  20,  1632.^  ''This  would  seem  to  indicate  an  earlier 
date  for  the  play  than  any  heretofore  offered,"  writes  For- 
sythe,2  '« since  it  seems  unlikely  that  a  proclamation  at  least 
seven  years  earlier  would  be  alluded  to  among  other  strictly 
contemporary  references."  Yet  the  plot  makes  such  a  refer- 
ence, even  if  out  of  date,  peculiarly  appropriate.  Sir  Richard 
Huntlove  is  about  to  take  his  wife  and  her  Sister  away  from 
London,  which  causes  Device's  remark  concerning  *'  the  pitti- 
ful  Complaint  of  the  Ladies  when  they  were  banish'd  the 
Towne  with  their  husbands  to  their  Country  houses."  This 
fits  the  situation  perfectly  and  enables  the  affected  fop  to 
expatiate  on  what  a  stupid  existence  the  women  will  lead  in 
their  exile.  There  are,  however,  two  other  contemporary  allu- 
sions which  definitely  place  the  present  form  of  this  play 
several  years  later :  one  to  the  Great  Ship,  built  in  1637,^ 
and  one  to  '*  the  leager  at  Barwick  and  the  late  expeditions,"  ^ 
which  must  mean  Charles  Fs  march  to  Scotland  and  the 
Pacification  at  Berwick  in  June,  1639.  Forsythe  would  have 
these  passages  later  interpolations  in  his  supposed  version  of 
1635,^  but  this  seems  hardly  necessary  when  the  only  reason 
for  imagining  an  earlier  form  is  the  mere  title  of  a  lost  drama 
recorded  in  1639- 1640. 

Moreover,  if  Williams  and  Egglesfield  chose  the  exact  time 
of  Shirley's  return  to  London  for  publishing  a  surreptitious 
copy  of  his  comedy,  they  were  less  astute  than  the  average 
publishers  of  their  day.^    If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  done 

1  Bullen,  p.  331.  2  p.  422.  8  Bullen,  p.  369.  *  Ibid.,  p.  321. 

6  P.  423. 

•  TTie  Tragedy  of  Saint  Albans  was  licensed  for  printing  on  the  previous 
February  14  but  evidently  never  appeared.  Shirley  may  have  come  home 
during  the  intervening  period,  but  in  any  case  the  status  of  the  lost  St.  Albans 
is  a  separate  problem.   See  Forsythe,  pp.  150-152. 


no  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

with  Shirley's  permission,  he  must  have  been  the  acknowledged 
author  of  Look  to  the  Lady,  for  it  was  licensed  in  his  name. 
Had  there  been  such  a  previous  work  by  him,  it  could  never 
have  been  produced,  or  Newcastle's  later  plagiarism  would  have 
been  detected  at  once ;  while  if  no  such  play  was  ever  acted, 
it  is  idle  to  speculate  upon  its  existence.  Another  reason  for 
imagining  that  The  Country  Captain  was  not  given  until  1640 
is  its  performance  ''by  His  Majesties  Servants  at  the  Black- 
fryers,"  ^  a  fact  attested  by  its  appearance  in  the  list  of  ''Plays 
of  the  King's  Men,"  dated  August  7,  164 1.2  Now  before  Shir- 
ley's withdrawal  to  Dublin,  he  wrote  almost  exclusively  for  the 
Queen's  Men,  and  only  one  of  his  plays.  The  Brothers,  —  and 
that  as  far  back  as  1626,  —  was  given  at  Blackfriars.^  After 
his  return  the  dramatist  transferred  his  activities  to  the  King's 
Men,  and  they  produced  all  his  later  works  with  the  exception 
of  The  Politician  and  The  Gentleman  of  Venice.  The  occa- 
sion for  this  shift  in  the  performance  of  Shirley's  plays  has 
been  variously  explained,^  but  the  fact  lends  color  to  supposing 
that  his  collaboration  with  Newcastle  falls  within  the  later 
period.  Indeed,  there  is  no  evidence  at  all  which  demands 
that  The  Country  Captain  should  be  dated  as  previous  to  1639 ; 
on  the  other  hand  every  indication  serves  to  show  that  it  was 
written  and  acted  in  that  or  the  following  year. 

There  can  be  no  doubt,  however,  that  Look  to  the  Lady 
would  be  a  most  suitable  name  for  the  comedy  in  which 
Lady  Huntlove's  underhand  plottings  have  so  large  a  share, 
and  the  temptation  to  relate  the  two  dramas  becomes  well- 
nigh  irresistible  when  it  is  remembered  that  the  single  men- 
tion of  Shirley's  lost  play  also  occurs  in  1639- 1640.  It  seems 
possible  to  establish  such  a  connection  if  we  imagine  that  the 

1  Title-page  of  the  edition. 

2  Malone  Society  Collections^  pp.  368-369,  where  it  follows  Shirley's  Imposture. 
8  Forsythe,  pp.  26-27.  *  Nason,  pp.  1 22-131. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  III 

author's  return  to  England,  instead  of  preventing  the  publica- 
tion of  Look  to  the  Lady,  was  the  occasion  of  its  entry  in  the 
Stationers  Register.  He  may  have  come  back  from  Ireland 
with  the  idea  for  a  new  play,  if  not  actually  a  rough  draft  of 
it,  which  he  promised  to  finish  for  performance.  As  a  result 
the  publishers  might  well  feel  justified  in  preparing  to  print 
the  work  before  it  was  acted.  Then  something  interfered,  per- 
haps it  was  Newcastle,  who  had  recently  developed  a  penchant 
for  dramatic  writing  and  who  naturally  would  have  turned  for 
assistance  to  his  former  successful  proteg6.  The  diplomatic 
Shirley  might  very  well  hand  over  his  new  scenario  to  the 
Earl,  help  the  nobleman  extensively  in  its  composition,  and, 
when  the  comedy  was  completed,  produce  it  under  another 
title  with  an  attribution  to  his  patron.  Then,  until  modern 
scholarship  came  into  the  field,  who  was  to  imagine  that  The 
Country  Captain  by  the  Earl  of  Newcastle  was  identical  with 
Look  to  the  Lady  by  James  Shirley  .?  Perhaps,  too,  this  explains 
why  the  completed  play  was  not  published  until  Newcastle 
chose  to  issue  it  ten  years  later,  and  why  John  Williams  and 
Francis  Egglesfield  printed  no  more  of  Shirley's  dramas.  That 
these  men  did  in  1640  bring  out  The  Arcadia,  which  was 
licensed  on  November  29,  1639,  a  few  months  before  Look 
to  the  Lady,  is  an  evidence  that  the  connection  between  them 
and  Shirley  was  not  broken  off  immediately  on  his  arrival  in 
London.  Forsythe  tries  to  show  that  The  Arcadia  may  have 
been  issued  before  the  dramatist's  return,  1  and  although  this 
is  possible,  it  is  not  likely,  as  a  more  probable  hypothesis 
places  the  break  somewhat  later.  Meanwhile  The  Arcadia 
might  have  appeared  while  Shirley  was  discovering  that  it 
was  more  profitable  to  write  for  the  nobility  than  for  unap- 
preciative  publishers,  even  if  in  the  former  case  you  could  not 
acknowledge  your  own  productions.  Naturally  one  supposes 
1  P.  422,  i.e.  in  the  very  beginning  of  1640  (Old  Style). 


112  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

that  such  industry  had  its  reward,  since  Newcastle  was  no 
niggard  of  his  favors  and  the  dramatist's  loss  from  withdraw- 
ing Look  to  the  Lady  must  have  been  considerable.  Moreover, 
if  Shirley  had  a  conscience,  it  had  to  be  salved  for  the 
disappointment  to  his  printers. 

But  this  is  romancing,  and  whatever  truth  may  be  in  it, 
there  is  no  proof  thereof.  What  we  know  is,  that  on  March  1 1, 
1 639- 1 640,  Look  to  the  Lady  was  licensed  ;  that  in  that  month 
or  the  preceding  ^  Shirley  returned  to  London ;  and  that  not 
long  after  The  Country  Captain,  in  which  he  had  a  large 
share,  was  produced  by  the  King's  Men  at  Blackfriars.  The 
inference  is  not  difficult  to  draw,  but  that  does  not  necessitate 
an  earlier  date  for  the  play's  original  composition.  Dr.  Forsythe 
is  to  be  given  complete  credit  for  first  suggesting  this  rather 
obscure  identification,  but  in  imagining  a  previous  version  he 
has  gone  unnecessarily  far  astray.  Nor,  while  we  recognize 
the  influence  of  Shirley,  must  we  forget  that  this  drama  con- 
tains some  share  of  Newcastle's  writing,  probably  in  the  low 
comic  scenes  where  any  poetic  feeling  would  have  been  super- 
fluous. Its  authorship  has  been  generally  ascribed  to  the  Earl, 
although  on  the  1649  title-page  it  is  said  to  be  ''  Written  by 
a  Person  of  Honor."  2  We  have  seen  that  Pepys  mentions 
Newcastle  as  responsible,  and  there  are  some  verses  by  a 
Mr.  Joseph  Leigh  to  the  same  effect.  They  appeared  in  the 
165 1  collection  of  William  Cartwright's  works  in  an  address 
to  Humphrey  Moseley,  the  printer,  naming  the  books  that  he 
has  presented  to  the  public ;  among  them 

fam'd  Newcastle's  choice  Variety 
With  his  brave  Captain  held  up  Poetry. 

1  Nason,  pp.  118-119. 

2  On  the  separate  title-page  no  author  is  mentioned,  but  the  printer  is 
given  as  "  Samuell  Broun  English  Bookseller  at  the  Signe  of  the  English 
Printing  House  in  the  Achter-ome."  Apparently  Moseley  obtained  complete 
possession  of  this  Hague  edition. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  113 

The  Variety  is  always  published  with  The  Coitntry  Captain ^ 
but  one  would  not  insult  Shirley  by  suggesting  that  he  is 
responsible  for  any  part  of  it,  although  Wood  says  '*  certain 
plays,"  a  distinct  plural,  and  no  others  by  Newcastle  were 
presented  before  the  Civil  War.  There  is  in  it  no  hint  of 
Shirley's  manner  beyond  the  fact  that  Monsieur  Gaillard,  the 
French  dancing  master,  recalls  Le  Frisk  in  The  Ball^  and  that 
Mistress  Voluble 's  discourse  to  the  ladies  has  come  through 
the  Compliment  School  in  Love  Tricks}  The  ultimate  source 
for  this  general  type  of  scene  seems  to  be  The  Clouds  of 
Aristophanes,^  but  it  came  into  Elizabethan  drama  through 
the  comedies  of  Ben  Jonson.  Cynthia  s  Revels^  The  Silent 
Womajij  and  The  Devil  is  an  Ass  all  have  some  kind  of 
"Academy,"  and  it  is  very  likely  that  Newcastle  took  the 
idea  directly  from  those  works.  After  the  Earl's  intimate 
acquaintance  with  Ben,  it  is  quite  natural  to  find  him  fol- 
lowing that  master,  as  was  discernible  even  in  the  mixed  style 
of  The  Country  Captain  and  as  comes  out  strongly  in  the 
more  unadulterated  Variety.  Here  the  Jonsonian  theory  of 
drama  reigns  supreme,  and  almost  every  character  is  a  familiar 
type :  the  Jeerers,  Major  and  Minor,  are  reminiscent  of  The 
Staple  of  News\  Simpleton,  the  country  chouse,  is  Master 
Stephen  again,  this  time  with  the  addition  of  a  cross-eyed 
mother ;  while  Form-all's  propensity  to  impart  court  secrets 
confidentially,  brings  to  mind  Sir  Politick  Would-be  of  Vol- 
pone?  Manley's  humor  for  praising  the  past  to  the  extent 
of  arraying  himself  as  Leicester  might  almost  have  been  sug- 
gested by  Jonson  himself,  especially  as  this  lover  of  old  times 


^  Forsythe,  p.  430.  But  Voluble  speaks  in  Act  II,  scene  i,  not  Act  III  as 
Forsythe  says. 

2  This  is  pointed  out  by  Edmund  Gosse  in  Mermaid  Series,  volume  of 
Shirley's  plays,  Introduction,  p.  xii. 

?  M.  Kerr's  Influence  of  Ben  Jonson^  pp.  11 2-1 17. 


114  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

engages  in  a  parody  ^  of  Ben's  well-known  lines  beginning :  ^ 

Have  you  seen  but  a  bright  lily  grow, 
Before  rude  hands  have  touch'd  it  ? 

One  and  all,  these  humors  are  properly  punished  at  the  end 
with  good  Jonsonian  morality  and  according  to  the  Duchess's 
assertion  that  her  husband's  chief  design  was  ''  to  divulge  and 
laugh  at  the  follies  of  mankind,  to  persecute  vice  and  to 
encourage  virtue."^ 

It  can  be  seen  that  Tke  Variety  lives  up  to  its  name,  but 
otherwise  little  praise  may  be  afforded  this  wretched  produc- 
tion, which  is  indeed  only  a  farrago  of  diverse  characteriza- 
tions. Plot  there  is  none,  except  for  a  liberal  use  of  the 
deceitful  marriage  device  that  does  service  in  The  Country 
Captain.  That  is  well  enough  in  its  way  but  becomes  unen- 
durable when  employed  wholesale  as  in  the  conclusion  of 
Act  V,  where  the  Justice,  Sir  William,  and  Gaillard  are  re- 
spectively duped  by  Voluble,  Simpleton's  Mother,  and  the 
pert  chambermaid,  Nice.  Our  author  only  redeems  himself 
by  two  lyrics  sung  in  the  inevitable  drinking  scene,  which  are 
worth  all  the  rest  of  this  play  put  together.  One  deals  with 
woman's  charms :  ^ 

Thine  eyes  to  me  like  sunnes  appeare 

Or  brighter  starres  their  light ; 
Which  makes  it  summer  all  the  year, 

Or  else  a  day  of  night. 
But  truly  I  do  thinke  they  are 
But  eyes,  and  neither  sunne  nor  starre. 

Brow,  cheek,  nose,  and  neck  undergo  the  same  disillusionment 
in  true  Cavalier  lilt.     The  other  song,^  a  serenade,   is  even 

1  Act  III,  scene  i.  Simpleton  sings  the  original  words  and  Manley  adds 
ridiculous  ones. 

2  The  last  stanza  of  his  Triumph  of  Charts.  *  The  Variety,  p.  62. 
8  Firth,  p.  109.  ^  Ibid.,  pp.  60-61. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  1 15 

more  finished,  and  more  typical  of  its  age  : 

I  conjure  thee,  I  conjure  thee,  by  thy  skin  that  is  so  faire, 
Thy  dainty  curled  haire, 
And  thy  favour  and  thy  grace, 
With  the  patches  on  thy  face, 
And  thy  hand  that  doth  invite 
The  cold  dullest  appetite 
Appeare  appeare. 

Upon  these  termes  I  doe  invite  thee, 
And  if  thou  com'st  I  will  delight  thee. 

If  not  so,  I  doe  not  care, 
Though  thy  breasts  be  ne're  so  bare, 
Roses  rich,  with  shooe  that 's  white 
Or  thy  Venus  best  delight, 

If  not  touch  thy  softer  skin 

What  care  I  for  thee  a  pin, 
Appeare  appeare. 

For  to  heare,  and  not  to  see 
Is  a  dull  flat  history. 
And  to  see  and  not  to  touch 
If  you  thinke  the  last  too  much 

Know  all  woman's  but  one  toy 

If  we  men  not  them  enjoy. 
Appeare  appeare. 

The  subsequent  history  of  The  Variety  is  really  of  greater 
importance  than  the  play  itself.  There  was  made  out  of  it 
a  droll,  called  The  French  Dancing  Master,  which  enjoyed 
considerable  popularity  after  the  Restoration.  It  was  acted 
by  Killigrew's  company  on  March  11,  1661-1662,1  and  on 
May  21  Pepys  attended  a  performance,  remarking  that,  *'The 
play  pleased  us  very  well ;  but  Lacy's  part,  the  Dancing 
Master,  the  best  in  the  world."  This  impersonation  won  the 
piece  its  vogue  and  delighted   Charles   II  so  extremely  that 

*  Malone's  Shakespeare^  ed.  Boswell,  III,  275. 


Ii6  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

he  had  the  actor  painted  as  Gaillard.^  The  droll  was  appar- 
ently based  on  two  scenes  from  The  Variety ^  that  of  Act  II 
where  the  dancing  master  proclaims  that  wit  lies  in  one's 
toes,  and  another  from  Act  III,  in  which  like  Monsieur 
Jourdain's  Maitre  a  Danser^  he  urges  that  people  be  made 
"  to  dance,  and  to  make  a  de  boon  reverence,  for  begar  dat 
will  make  de  King  de  great  King  in  de  Varle.  .  .  .  Ven  dey 
are  so  bissey  to  learn  a  de  dance,  dey  vill  never  tink  of  de 
Rebellion,  and  den  de  reverence  is  obedience  to  Monarchy, 
and  begar  obedience  is  ale  de  ting  in  de  Varle."  These  two 
episodes  were  printed  under  the  name  of  The  Humotirs  of 
Monsieur  Gaillard  in  the  1672  edition  of  Francis  Kirkman's 
The  Wits,  or  Sport  upon  Sport^  a  famous  collection  of  drolls 
and  farces.^ 

The  Variety  cannot  be  given  a  definite  date,  but  it  may  be 
approximately  placed  with  its  companion  piece  in  1 639-1 640. 
It  was  also  produced  by  the  King's  Men  at  Blackfriars  accord- 
ing to  its  title-page,  but  does  not  appear  on  the  list  of  their 
plays  reprinted  in  the  Malo7ie  Society  Collectiojis.  This  sug- 
gests that  it  might  have  appeared  after  that  date,  August  7, 
1 64 1,  but  on  the  other  hand  its  omission  may  be  due  to  earlier 
lack  of  success,  a  hypothesis  supported  by  one  of  Richard 
Brome's  poems.  The  verses  set  forth  before  his  comedy  of 
The  Covent  Garden  Weeded  are  inscribed,  ''  To  my  Lord  of 
Newcastle,  on  his  Play  called  The  Variety.  He  having  com- 
manded to  give  him  my  true  opinion  of  it."    In  them  Brome 

1  Langbaine,  p.  317. 

2  In  Le  Bourgeois  Gentilhomme,  Act  I,  scene  ii,  particularly  the  speech : 
"  Tous  les  malheurs  des  hommes,  tous  les  revers  funestes  dont  les  histoires 
sont  rempHes,  les  bevues  des  politiques,  et  les  manquements  des  grands  capi- 
taines,  tout  cela  n'est  venu  que  faute  de  savoir  danser."  —  CEuvres  ComplHes 
de  Molilre,  Oxford,  1900,  p.  487- 

3  Pp.  134-139- 

*  Many  of  them  are  said  to  have  been  performed  at  fairs  or  taverns  during 
the  Puritan  ascendency  by  Robert  Cox,  the  comedian.  See  the  article  on 
Kirkman  in  Diet.  Nat.  Biog. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS"  117 

says  that  he  has  considered  himself  a  poet  for  seven  years,  and 
as  the  first  ascertainable  trace  of  his  work  is  The  Northern 
Lass,  which  was  acted  a  short  time  before  its  printed  appearance 
in  1632,  The  Variety  can  be  traced  back  to  1639.  Neither  was 
its  reception  markedly  enthusiastic,  if  Brome's  ''true  opinion" 
be  taken  for  a  criterion,  although  he  was  able  cleverly  to  equivo- 
cate out  of  Gil  Bias's  dilemma.  The  cunning  rogue  must  have 
chuckled  to  himself  as,  without  perjuring  his  immortal  soul, 

he  wrote : 

I  could  not  think  these  seven  yeares,  but  that  I 

In  part  a  poet  was,  and  so  might  lie, 

By  the  Poetick  License.    But  I  finde 

Now  I  am  none,  and  strictly  am  confin'd 

To  truth,  if  therefore  I  subpaena'd  were 

Before  the  Court  of  Chancerie  to  swear. 

Or  if  from  thence  I  should  be  higher  sent, 

And  on  my  life  unto  a  Parliament 

Of  wit  and  judgement,  there  to  certifie 

What  I  could  say  of  your  Variety : 

I  would  depose  each  Scene  appear'd  to  me 

An  Act  of  wit,  each  Act  a  Comedy, 

And  all  was  such,  to  all  that  understood. 

As  knowing  Johnson,  swore  By  God  't  was  good. 

About  this  same  time  (in  1640)  Brome  dedicated  his  play 
The  Sparagus  Garden  to  Newcastle,^  but  he  was  too  keen  to 
trust  in  future  rewards  and  had  obtained  his  compensation 
in  advance : 

My  Lord ! 

Your  favourable  Construction  of  my  poore  Labours  commanded  my 
Service  to  your  Honour,  and,  in  that,  betray 'd  your  worth  to  this 
Dedication :  I  am  not  ignorant  how  farre  unworthy  my  best  endeavours 
are  of  your  least  allowance ;  yet  let  your  Lordship  be  pleased  to  know 
you,  in  this,  share  but  the  inconveniences  of  the  most  renowned  Princes 
as  you  partake  of  their  glories:  And  I  doubt  not  but  it  will  more 
divulge  your  noble  Disposition  to  the  World,  when  it  is  knowne  you 

1  Brome's  Works,  1873,  HI.  "i- 


II8  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

can  freely  pardon  an  Officious  trespasse  against  your  Goodnes.  Caesar 
had  never  bin  commended  for  his  Clemency,  had  there  not  occasion 
beene  offered,  wherein  hee  might  shew,  how  willingly  he  could  for- 
give :  I  shall  thanke  my  Fortune,  if  this  weake  presentation  of  mine 
shall  any  way  encrease  the  Glory  of  your  Name  among  Good  Men, 
which  is  the  chiefest  ayme  and  onely  study  of 

Your  Honours  devoted  servant 

Richard  Brome 

During  the  period  of  Newcastle's  dramatic  activity  he  held 
his  post  as  governor  to  the  Prince  and  in  connection  with  this 
office  produced  another,  very  different  piece  of  literature.  It  is 
a  letter  of  instructions  ^  written  to  Charles  '*for  his  studies,  con- 
duct, and  behaviour,"  the  keynote  of  which  seems  to  be  modera- 
tion and  diplomacy.  As  to  education,  he  must  learn  languages 
and  the  arts  of  war,  ''though  I  confess,  I  would  rather  have 
you  study  things  than  words,  matter  than  language ;  for  seldom 
a  critic  in  many  languages  hath  time  to  study  sense,  for  words ; 
and  at  best  he  is  or  can  be  but  a  living  dictionary.  Besides  I 
would  not  have  you  too  studious,  for  too  much  contemplation 
spoils  action  and  virtue  consists  in  that  .  .  .  the  greatest  clerks 
are  not  the  wisest  men ;  neither  have  I  known  bookworms 
great  statesmen ;  some  have  heretofore  and  some  are  now,  but 
they  study  men  more  now  than  books,  or  else  they  would  prove 
but  silly  statesmen.  For  a  mere  scholar,  there  is  nothing  so 
simple  for  this  world."  Prince  Charles  must  beware  of  being 
too  religious,  a  fault  to  which  his  tutor  thinks  him  inclined, 
but  still  he  must  pray  to  God,  lest  his  subjects  wax  disobedient, 
and  lest  "if  any  be  Bible  mad,  over  much  learned  with  fiery 
zeal,  they  may  think  it  a  service  to  God  to  destroy  you  and 
say  the  Spirit  moved  them  and  bring  some  example  of  a  king 
with  a  hard  name  in  the  Old  Testament."  The  letter  con- 
cludes with  more  practical  advice,  such  as  to  be  courteous, 

^  Printed  by  Firth,  pp.  184-187,  and  in  Ellis's  Original  Letters,  Series  I, 
Vol.  Ill,  p.  288. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  119 

civil,  and  ceremonious ;  but  enough  has  been  quoted  to  show 
that  it  is  a  remarkable  document,  intrinsically  of  greater  worth 
than  the  Earl's  pretentious  dramas. 

While  governor  in  the  royal  household,  Newcastle  was  asso- 
ciated with  other  men  of  letters  besides  Shirley  and  Brome, 
so  it  may  have  been  then  that  Robert  Davenport  addressed  a 
manuscript  volume  of  poems  to  him.^  In  1638  Jasper  Mayne 
translated  Lucian's  Dialogues  ''  for  your  private  entertain- 
ment," as  he  tells  his  patron  when  they  were  finally  published 
in  1664.  In  his  dedication  to  the  Marquis  he  explains  the 
delay  by  saying,  "whether  it  were  Malice  or  Mistake  I  know 
not,  but  they  were  here  in  this  place  taken  for  Wanderers ; 
And  when  they  went  to  the  Presse,  met  the  Whipping-Post  in 
their  way,  by  the  over  severe  persecution  of  some  needlessly 
morose."  ^  He  adds  that  he  would  have  translated  more,  "  if 
the  late  barbarous  Times  had  not  broke  into  my  Study.  And 
by  raising  a  Rebellion  against  Learning,  and  their  Prince,  had 
not  called  You  away  to  lead  an  Army  into  the  Field."  Of 
this  period  also  is  a  charming  letter  to  Cavendish  from  gay 
Sir  John  Suckling,  who  is  at  court,  and  wonders  why  his 
friend  stays  so  long  away  with  the  young  Prince :  ^ 

January  8.  London  —  Are  the  small  buds  of  the  white  and  red 
rose  more  delightful  than  the  roses  themselves.?  And  cannot  the 
King  and  Queen  invite  as  stronglie  as  the  roiall  issue  ? 

Or  has  your  lordship  taken  up  your  freinds  opinion  of  you  to  your 
owne  use,  so  that  when  you  are  in  my  Lord  of  Newcastle's  companie 
you  cannot  think  of  anie  other.  Excuse  me  —  my  Lord  —  I  know  it 
is  a  pleasure  to  enioy  a  priveledge  due  to  the  highest  excelence  — 
which  is  to  be  extreamlie  honored  and  never  seen  —  but  withall  I 
believe  the  goodnesse  of  your  nature  so  great  that  you  will  not  think 
yourself  dearlie  borrowed,  when  your  presence  shall  concerne  the 
fortune  of  an  humble  servant.  I  write  not  this  —  my  Lord  —  that 
you  should  take  a  journey  on  purpose,  that  were  as  extravagant  as  if 

1  See  Thorpe's  Catalogue  of  Afss.,  1836  (No.  1450),  and  the  article  on 
Robert  Davenport  in  Did.  Nat.  Biog.  ^  P.  A2.  ^Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  133. 


I20  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

a  man  should  desire  —  the  universall  benefactor  —  the  sun,  to  come  a 
month  or  two  before  his  time,  onelie  to  make  a  spring  in  his  garden. 
I  will  as  men  doe  his,  wait  —  my  Lord  —  your  comming  and  in  the 
meantime  promise  myself  good  howres  without  the  help  of  an 
astrologer,  since  I  suddenlie  hope  to  see  the  noblest  planett  of  our 
orb  in  conjunction  with  your  Lordship. 

Suckling's  association  with  Newcastle  was,  of  course,  on  an 
equal  footing ;  there  could  be  no  question  of  patronage  when 
two  courtiers  met  together  with  a  common  interest.  It  will  be 
remembered,  also,  that  Sir  John  was  largely  responsible  for 
entangling  Cavendish  in  the  ill-fated  Army  Plot,  which  by  its 
discovery  cost  the  Earl  his  position.  Yet  there  is  no  sign  that 
anything  but  the  pleasantest  relations  ever  existed  between 
these  two  kindred  spirits. 

Another  literary  man  connected  with  the  unlucky  conspiracy 
was  William  Davenant,  who  fled  to  France  on  its  failure.  He 
did  not  return  until  after  the  Civil  War  had  broken  out,  when 
he  was  sent  by  the  Queen  with  stores  to  Newcastle  and  (per- 
haps by  her  recommendation  i)  became  an  officer  in  the  North- 
ern Army.  Sir  Philip  Warwick  sneers  at  this  appointment  in 
his  criticism  of  Cavendish  ^  : 

He  was  a  gentleman  of  grandeur,  generosity,  loyalty,  and  steady  and 
forward  courage ;  but  his  edge  had  too  much  of  the  razor  in  it :  for 
he  had  a  tincture  of  a  romantic  spirit,  and  had  the  misfortune  to  have 
somewhat  of  the  poet  in  him ;  so  as  he  chose  Sir  William  Davenant, 
an  eminent  good  poet,  and  loyal  gentleman,  to  be  lieutenant-general 
of  his  ordnance.  This  inclination  of  his  own  and  such  kind  of  witty 
society  (to  be  modest  in  the  expression  of  it)  diverted  many  counsels, 
and  lost  many  opportunities,  which  the  nature  of  that  affair  this  great 
man  had  now  entered  into  required. 

Davenant  did  not  receive  his  knighthood  from  Newcastle 
as  Aubrey  asserts,^  although  the  general  had  that  power  by 

1  Firth,  p.  xviii,  suggests  this,  citing  Letters  of  Henrietta  Maria,  ed.  Green, 
p.  134.  2  Memoirs,  p.  235. 

8  Aubrey's  Lives ^  ed.  1898,  I,  206,  and  the  article  on  Davenant  in  Diet. 
Nat.  Biog. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  121 

commission,  but  from  King  Charles  in  person  at  the  siege  of 
Gloucester.  After  the  defeat  of  the  royal  army,  Sir  William 
again  cautiously  sought  refuge  in  Paris  and  must  have  met 
the  Marquis  there.  In  view  of  their  close  connection,  it  is 
astonishing  that  no  notice  of  it  finds  a  place  in  Davenant's 
works,  with  the  exception  of  a  short  poem  Upo7i  the  Marriage 
of  the  Lady  Jane  Cavendish  with  Mr,  Cheney.  (Her  sister 
Elizabeth  wedded  Lord  Brackley,  who  took  the  part  of  the 
Elder  Brother  in  Comics,  and  this  is  the  only  link  between 
Newcastle  and  the  greatest  writer  of  his  age.)  Davenant's 
verses  do  not  seem  appropriate  to  their  subject  as  they  run  i^ 

Why  from  my  thoughts  sweet  rest ;  sweeter  to  me 
Than  young  ambition's  prosp'rous  travels  be, 
Or  love's  delicious  progresses ; 
And  is  next  death  the  greatest  ease  ? 
Why  from  so  calm  a  heav'n, 
Dost  call  me  to  this  world,  all  windy  grown ; 

Where  the  light  crowd,  like  lightest  sand  is  driven. 
And  weighty  greatness,  even  by  them,  to  air  is  blown  ? 

During  his  campaigns  Cavendish's  own  creative  work  was 
naturally  brought  to  a  standstill,  or  rather  he  turned  his  talents 
into  unaccustomed  channels.  All  his  energies  were  occupied 
by  proclamations  and  reports,  of  which  the  declaration  "for 
marching  into  Yorkshire "  is  worth  considering  for  its  sim- 
plicity of  outline  and  its  clean-cut  argument.^  His  defense  for 
coming  is  (i)  that  he  has  been  invited,  (2)  that  he  does  not 
come  to  pillage  or  plunder,  (3)  that  he  intends  to  put  an  end 
to  violent  encroachments,  and  (4)  that  he  will  take  counsel 
with  his  supporters  in  York  and  withdraw  when  his  object  is 
accomplished.  That  he  has  accepted  Popish  recusants  into  his 
army  is  freely  admitted,  but  the  Parliamentarians  had  enter- 
tained them  first.    Also  it  is  perfectly  legitimate  to  receive  aid 

1  Works,  p.  291.  2  Rushworth,  III,  ii,  78-81.    See  p.  24,  above. 


122  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

from  people  of  different  denominations,  as  precedent  and  ex- 
pediency go  to  prove,  nor  is  there  any  reason  why  they  should 
prove  disloyal.  Finally,  he  will  see  to  it  that  these  Papists 
"  do  nothing  against  the  Lawes  of  this  Kingdome,  for  I  have 
received  them,  not  for  their  Religion,  but  for  the  Allegiance 
which  they  profess  to  so  gratious  a  King :  whom  I  pray  God 
to  Protect,  and  long  continue  amongst  us,  and  let  all  good 
People  say.  Amen." 

in 

PATRONAGE  IN  EXILE  (1644-1660) 

Newcastle's  excellent  proclamations  could  not  make  up  for 
his  mediocre  military  ability,  however,  and  by  1645,  as  we  have 
seen,  he  found  himself  a  refugee  in  Paris.  Here  he  encoun- 
tered Hobbes  again  ^  and  almost  at  once  became  embroiled 
in  one  of  that  philosopher's  theoretical  disputations.  Bishop 
Bramhall  of  Londonderry,  a  staunch  Royalist  and  a  friend  of 
Cavendish's,  had  fled  with  him  after  Marston  Moor,^  and  he 
was  to  be  Hobbes's  antagonist.  The  two  men  had  a  temperate 
discussion  on  the  question  of  free-will  before  Newcastle,  but 
as  no  conclusion  was  reached  Bramhall  set  his  views  down 
on  paper  and  sent  them  to  the  nobleman  to  be  answered  in 
like  manner  by  Hobbes.^  At  the  request  of  his  patron, 
Hobbes  did  answer  them  in  a  letter  dated  from  Rouen, 
August  20,  1646,  humbly  beseeching  ''your  Lordship  to 
communicate  it  only  to  my  Lord  Bishop."  ^    Bramhall  replied, 

1  Here,  too,  Newcastle  and  his  brother  were  "  pleased  to  take  notice  of  " 
Sir  William  Petty,  on  Hobbes's  recommendation.  See  Vaughan's  Protectorate 
of  Cromwell^  II,  368.  It  was  Cavendish's  influence  also,  no  doubt,  which  at 
this  time  procured  Hobbes  his  position  as  tutor  in  mathematics  to  Prince 
Charles.    See  Leslie  Stephen's  Hobbes,  p.  38. 

2  Bramhall's  Works,  I,  x,  and  III,  Preface. 

8  Hobbes's  English  Works,  V,  2,  22 ;  and  Bramhall's  Works,  IV,  17,  23. 
*  Hobbes's  English  Works,  IV,  238-278. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  123 

and  as  his  opponent  remained  silent,  the  controversy  seemed 
likely  to  be  dropped ;  but  before  the  Bishop's  second  epistle 
had  been  received,  a  French  gentleman  obtained  permission 
from  Hobbes  to  have  his  letter  translated  by  a  young  English- 
man, ''who  being  a  nimble  writer,  took  a  copy  of  it  for  him- 
self." In  1654  this  surreptitious  copy  was  printed,  without 
the  philosopher's  knowledge  or  consent,^  but  much  to  the 
indignation  of  Bramhall,  who  believed  Hobbes  had  rudely 
violated  their  confidential  correspondence.  He  thereupon 
pubHshed  in  1655  all  three  tracts,  item  by  item,  under  the 
name  of  A  Defence  of  True  Liberty  from  Antecedent  and 
Extrinsecal  Necessity,  and  dedicated  it  to  Newcastle  with  a 
preface,  stating  in  no  uncertain  terms  the  author's  supposed 
grounds  for  complaint  against  his  enemy .2  The  following  year 
Hobbes  set  forth  the  entire  transaction  again,  calling  it  The 
Questions  Concerning  Liberty,  Necessity  and  Chance,  explain- 
ing the  circumstances  of  the  pirated  version,  and  adding  "  ani- 
madversions "  on  each  several  section.^  Bramhall  retaliated 
with  Castigations  of  Mr,  Hobbes  his  last  Animadversions^  and 
then  carried  the  argument  into  broader  fields  by  his  Catching 
of  Leviathan^  1658.  The  final  chapter  in  this  dispute  was 
Hobbes's  answer,  probably  written  ten  years  later  but  only 
given  to  the  public  posthumously.  ^ 

Newcastle's  name,  it  may  be  seen,  disappears  early  in  the 
discussion  but  crops  up  again  in  a  sort  of  sequel  to  it.  In 
1676  Benjamin  Laney,  Bishop  of  Ely,  issued  a  tract  against 
the  original  1646  letter  on  liberty  and  necessity,  to  which  it 
is  alleged  by  Richard  Blackburne  that  Hobbes  replied  in  an 
address  to  the  Duke.^  No  trace  of  this  answer  has  been  found, 


1  Hobbes's  English  Works,  V,  25-26.  *  Bramhall,  IV,  197-506. 

2  Bramhall,  IV,  5-196.  6  Ibid.,  IV,  507-597. 

»  Hobbes's  English  Works,  V.  6  Hobbes's  English  Works,  IV,  279-384. 

'  Vitce  HobbiancE  aiictariurn  in  Hobbes's  Latin  Works,  I,  Ixvii. 


124  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

and  very  probably  it  never  existed.^  We  have,  however,  in 
manuscript  still  another  work  dedicated  to  Cavendish :  A 
mmute  or  first  draught  of  the  Optiques.  ht  two  parts.  By 
Thomas  Hobbes.  At  Paris,  1 64.6?  The  first  part,  On  Illtimi- 
nation,  was  never  printed,  but  the  second.  On  Vision,  appears 
in  Latin  as  part  of  the  De  Homine,  Its  introduction  states 
that  **  the  desire  of  knowledge  and  desire  of  needlesse  riches 
are  incompatible,  and  destructive  one  of  another  "  and  that 
this  treatise  ''is  grounded  especially  upon  that  wh<=^  about 
16  years  since  I  affirmed  to  your  Lopp  at  Welbeck,  that  light 
is  a  fancy  in  the  minde,  caused  by  motion  in  the  brain."  The 
hope  is  further  expressed  ''that  your  lordship,  after  having 
performed  so  noble  and  honourable  acts  for  defence  of  your 
countrie,  may  thinke  it  no  dishonour  in  this  unfortunate  lea- 
sure  to  have  employed  some  thoughts  in  the  speculation  of  the 
noblest  of  the  senses,  vision.''  Newcastle  was  not  the  sort  of 
man  to  lament  his  lost  opportunities,  and  when  the  theatre  of 
affairs  was  closed  to  him  he  speedily  sought  consolation  in 
his  earlier  and  less  exacting  pursuits ;  patronage  of  science 
or  art  was  always  a  congenial  occupation  for  him. 

Association  with  Hobbes,  together  with  Sir  Charles  Caven- 
dish's practical  knowledge  of  science,^  brought  the  Marquis 
into  relations  with  foreign  men  of  learning,  "  I  have  heard 
Mr.  Edmund  Waller  say,"  writes  Aubrey,^  "that  W.  Lord 
Marquis  of  Newcastle  was  a  great  patron  to  Dr.  Gassendi,  and 
M.  Des  Cartes,  as  well  as  to  Mr.  Hobbes,  and  that  he  hath 
dined  with  them  all  three  at  the  Marquis's  table  at  Paris." 
The  Duchess  gives  some  support  to  this  statement  when  she 

^  Robertson's  Hobbes^  p.  202,  n. 

^  Harleian  Ms.  3360.  See  Hobbes's  English  Works,  VII,  467-471,  where 
the  dedication  and  concluding  paragraph  are  given. 

^  See  Vaughan's  Protectorate  of  Cromwell,  Vol.  II,  App. ;  Halliwell's  Letters 
on  Scientific  Subjects,  1841 ;  and  Hobbes's  English  Works,  VII,  455-462. 

4  Lives,  ed.  1898,  I,  366. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  125 

defends  herself  against  having  appropriated  opinions  from  the 
two  latter :  ^ 

I  cannot  say  but  I  have  seen  them  both,  but  upon  my  conscience  I 
never  spoke  with  monsieur  De  Cartes  in  my  hfe,  nor  ever  understood 
what  he  said,  for  he  spake  no  English,  and  I  understand  no  other 
language,  and  those  times  I  saw  him,  which  was  twice  at  dinner  with 
my  Lord  at  Paris,  he  did  appear  to  me  a  man  of  the  fewest  words  I 
ever  heard.  And  for  Master  Hobbes,  it  is  true  I  have  had  the  like 
good  fortune  to  see  him,  and  that  very  often  with  my  Lord  at  dinner, 
for  I  conversing  seldom  with  any  strangers,  had  no  other  time  to  see 
those  famous  Philosophers;  yet  I  never  heard  Master  Hobbes  to  my 
best  remembrance  treat,  or  discourse  of  Philosophy,  nor  I  never  spake 
to  Master  Hobbes  twenty  words  in  my  life,  I  cannot  say  I  did  not  ask 
him  a  question,  for  when  I  was  in  London  I  met  him,  and  told  him 
as  truly  I  was  very  glad  to  see  him,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  please 
to  do  me  that  honour  to  stay  at  dinner,  but  he  with  great  civility  re- 
fused as  having  some  businesse,  which  I  suppose  required  his  absence. 

Possibly  in  view  of  her  habitual  silence  on  previous  occasions, 
he  did  not  anticipate  that  her  Ladyship  would  give  him  a  very 
stimulating  evening's  entertainment. 

Still  the  Duchess  was  very  proud  of  the  connection  with 
Hobbes,  for  in  the  Life  she  records  his  delight  in  some  of  her 
husband's  sayings.  The  conversation  turned  on  whether  it 
might  be  possible  for  men  to  fly  with  artificial  wings,  and  ''  my 
Lord  declared,  that  he  deemed  it  altogether  impossible,  and 
demonstrated  it  by  this  following  reason.  Man's  arms,  said 
he,  are  not  set  on  his  shoulders  in  the  same  manner  as  birds' 
wings  are ;  for  that  part  of  the  arm  which  joins  to  the  shoulder 
is  in  man  placed  inward,  as  towards  the  breast,  but  in  birds 
outward,  as  toward  the  back;  which  difference  and  contrary 
position  or  shape  hinders  that  man  cannot  have  the  same  flying 
action  with  his  arms  as  birds  have  with  their  wings.  Which 
argument  Mr.  Hobbes  liked  so  well,  that  he  was  pleased  to 

1  In  "  An  Epiloge  to  my  Philosophical  Opinions,"  prefixed  to  Philosophical 
and  Physical  Opinions,  1 65  5. 


126  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

make  use  of  it  in  one  of  his  books  called  Leviathan,  if  I 
remember  well."  ^  Later  they  talked  of  witches,  and  Hobbes 
said  he  would  not  believe  thercvwere  such  things  except  that 
they  admitted  it  themselves.  Newcastle  gave  it  as  his  opinion 
**  that  the  confession  of  witches  and  their  suffering  for  it,  pro- 
ceeded from  an  erroneous  belief,  viz.  that  they  had  made  a 
contract  with  the  devil  to  serve  him  for  such  rewards  as  were 
in  his  power  to  give  them,  .  .  .  and  this  wicked  opinion  makes 
them  industrious  to  perform  such  ceremonies  to  the  devil,  that 
they  adore  and  worship  him  as  their  god,  and  choose  to  live 
and  die  for  him.  Thus  my  Lord  declared  himself  concerning 
witches,  which  Mr.  Hobbes  was  also  pleased  to  insert  in  his 
fore-mentioned  book."  ^  Professor  Firth  says  he  has  not  been 
able  to  find  these  arguments  in  the  Leviathan^  and  it  is  abso- 
lutely certain  that  the  former  does  not  appear  in  it.  There  is 
an  allusion  to  witches,  however,  which  may  be  held  roughly 
to  coincide  with  Cavendish's  expressed  view.  In  a  brief  and 
unimportant  passage  the  author  states :  ^ 

As  for  witches,  I  think  not  that  their  witchcraft  is  any  real  power ; 
but  yet  that  they  are  justly  punished  for  the  false  belief  they  have 
that  they  can  do  such  mischief,  joined  with  their  purpose  to  do  it  if 
they  can ;  their  trade  being  nearer  to  a  new  religion  than  to  a  craft 
or  science. 

The  Duchess  did  not  "remember  well"  in  the  first  instance 
and  her  second  example  is  hazy,  to  say  the  least,  but  she  comes 
out  of  the  ordeal  with  her  reputation  for  intentional  veracity 
unimpeached,  if  condemned  more  strongly  than  ever  as  an 
over-ardent  hero-worshipper. 

This  lady  took  her  turn  at  patronage,  too,  after  her  marriage 
to  Newcastle  and  while  they  were  still  in  Paris.  The  recipient 
of  her  favor  was  John  Birkenhead,  editor  of  the  Mercurius 

1  Firth,  pp.  106-107.  8  Ibid.,  p.  106,  n. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  107.  *  English  Works,  III,  9. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  127 

Auliciis,  of  whom  Aubrey  writes :  ^  **  He  went  over  into 
France,  where  he  stayed  some  time,  I  thinke  not  long.  He 
received  grace  there  from  the  dutchess  of  Newcastle,  I  remem- 
ber he  tolde  me."  This  must  have  been  in  1648,  the  year  of 
Birkenhead's  arrival  and  of  Descartes's  long  stay  in  Paris. 
In  July  the  Marquis  and  the  Marchioness  left  France  for  the 
Low  Countries,  where  they  resided  during  the  remainder  of 
their  exile.  Here  there  were  few  literary  men  with  whom  they 
could  foregather,  and  as  neither  husband  nor  wife  cared  much 
for  reading,^  they  both  turned  to  composition  according  to 
their  individual  taste  and  genius. 

The  most  interesting  work  that  Newcastle  produced  in  this 
period  is  thus  described  in  his  biography :  ^ 

And  here  I  cannot  forbear  to  mention,  that  my  noble  Lord,  when  he 
was  in  banishment,  presumed  out  of  his  duty  and  love  to  his  gracious 
master,  our  now  sovereign  King,  Charles  the  Second,  to  write  and 
send  him  a  little  book,  or  rather  a  letter  wherein  he  delivered  his 
opinion  concerning  the  government  of  his  dominions,  whensoever 
God  should  be  pleased  to  restore  him  to  his  throne,  together  with 
some  other  notes  and  observations  of  foreign  states  and  kingdoms; 
but  it  being  a  private  offer  to  his  sacred  Majesty,  I  dare  not  presume 
to  publish  it. 

Two  manuscript  copies  of  this  document  survive,  one,  evidently 
the  royal  copy,  bound  in  white  parchment,  with  fine  gold  tool- 
ing and  blue  silk  strings,  among  the  Clarendon  Manuscripts 
in  the  Bodleian  Library,^  the  other  in  the  Duke  of  Portland's 
possession.  This  letter  was  printed  in  1903  by  S.  A.  Strong 
in  his  Catalogue  of  Letters  and  Other  Historical  Documents 

1  Livesy  ed.  1898,  II,  105. 

2  S.  A.  Strong's  Catalogue,  p.  173;  "A  Preface  to  the  Reader,"  prefixed  to 
Philosophical  Letters',  and  "To  the  Reader,"  prefixed  to  Observations  upon 
Experimental  Philosophy. 

*  Firth,  p.  100. 

*  Madan's  Summary  Catalogue  of  the  Western  Mss.,  Vol.  Ill,  No.  16,195, 
where  it  is  ascribed  to  Clarendon. 


128  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

preserved  in  the  Library  at  Welbeck'^  and  is  an  important 
addition  to  our  knowledge  of  the  man  and  his  period.  Mon- 
sieur Emile  Montegut,  in  complete  ignorance  of  this  treatise, 
prophesies  of  it  with  startling  accuracy :  ^  ''  Nous  connaitrions 
les  vraies  opinions  de  Newcastle  sur  le  gouvernement  civil  et 
la  religion,  et  il  est  probable  que  nous  verrions  qu'elles  furent 
elles  meme  d'un  Hobes  modern,  prudent  et  sans  insolence 
agressive."  They  are  moreover  the  views  of  an  overpractical 
Hobbes  and  thus  form  an  instructive  corollary  to  the  Hobbesian 
theories  by  applying  them  more  specifically. 

The  ''Little  Book"  begins  with  the  assertion  that  "these 
discourses  are  oute  off  my  longe  Experience  "  and  plunges  at 
once  into  the  question  of  militia,  ''  for  withoute  an  Armeye  In 
your  owne  handes  you  are  butt  a  kinge  Uppon  the  Courteseye 
of  others" — a  good  Leviathan  principle  with  which  to  start.^ 
That  monster  is  actually  named  in  urging  that  its  head,  Lon- 
don, be  mastered,  ''  for  so  you  master  all  Englande,  &  as  one 
sayde  whatt  shoulde  they  bee  Armde  for,  butt  In  time  off 
peace  to  playe  the  fooles.  In  finsburye  feeldes.  In  trayninge 
there,  —  Ande  in  time  of  warr  to  playe  the  Rebells  agaynst 
their  kinge,  so  still  I  Conclude  Master  London  &  you  have 
dun  your  worke."  He  advises  that  trained  bands  be  kept  in 
every  county,  that  two  forts  be  built  on  each  side  of  the  Thames 
below  Greenwich  as  was  done  at  Antwerp,  and  that  good  gar- 
risons be  kept  in  port  towns.  This  last  move  will  help  insure 
the  safety  of  shipping,  which  according  to  the  old  saying  ''  is 
the  Brason  walls  off  Englande."    Closely  connected  with  that 

1  Pp.  173-236.  2  pp  271-272. 

8  John  Selden,  who  also  was  a  follower  of  Hobbes,  writes :  "  If  the  Prince 
be  servus  natura,  of  a  servile  base  Spirit,  and  the  Subjects  liberi,  free  and 
Ingenuous,  oft-times  they  depose  their  Prince,  and  govern  themselves.  On 
the  contrary,  if  the  People  be  Servi  Natura,  and  some  one  amongst  them  of 
a  free  and  Ingenuous  Spirit,  he  makes  himself  King  of  the  rest ;  and  this  is 
the  Cause  of  all  changes  in  State:  Commonwealths  into  Monarchies,  and 
Monarchies  into  Commonwealths." —  Table-Talk,  CIX,  9. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS"  1 29 

is  a  plea  for  encouraging  trade,  ''  Itt  is  the  merchante  thatt 
onlye  bringes  Honye  to  the  Hive,"  and  with  true  seventeenth- 
century  ring,  the  theory  that  was  to  reach  its  highest  develop- 
ment under  Colbert,  ''  Trade  muste  bee  considerde,  thatt  the 
merchante  maye  Exporte,  more  than  Importe,  that  hee  Carrye 
oute  more  Comodeties  than  he  bringes  in."  The  more  trade, 
the  greater  custom  revenues  for  the  King,  but  of  late  there 
has  been  too  much  confusion  in  collecting  them.  Let  monopo- 
lies be  abolished,  the  rate  of  interest  be  lowered,  and  an  excise 
adopted  as  the  fairest  tax  possible,  although,  even  so,  *'a 
Rich  Curmougin  thatt  will  almoste  Starve  him  selfe,  with  rawe 
Porke  and  Candles  Endes  maye  have  advantage  for  the  Purse 
though  nott  the  Belly e,  butt  thatt  can  nott  bee  helpte."  Since 
manufacture  is  of  the  utmost  importance  for  enriching  a  coun- 
try, it  would  be  an  excellent  plan  to  bring  into  England  foreign 
industries  such  as  the  production  of  silk  and  of  linen,  ''  so  for 
all  maner  off  fine  thred  lases,  as  flanders  famous  for  Itt,  Iper 
&  Gaunte  hath  been  famous  above  300  yeares  for  chaser 
[Chaucer  !  ]  speakes  off  Itt." 

As  in  his  letter  to  Charles  when  a  prince,  Newcastle  con- 
siders the  Church  as  merely  a  political  tool.  This  is  strictly 
in  accord  with  Hobbes's  idea  that  religion  must  ever  be  sub- 
servient to  the  State,  by  the  very  nature  of  the  contract 
implied  in  all  government.^  Consequently  the  Church  of 
England  is  the  only  permissible  form  of  observance,  *'for 
Indeed,  Popery,  &  Presbetery,  though  theye  looke  divers  wayes, 
with  their  heads,  yett  theye  are  tied  together  like  Samsons 
Foxes  by  theyr  Tayles  Carienge  the  same  fierbrandes  off 
Covetusnes  &  Ambition,  to  putt  all  Into  a  Combustion  wher- 
' soever  theye  coume,  thatt  will  nott  Submit  to  them."  In 
Catholicism  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Pope  interferes  with  civil 

1  As  Selden  expresses  it,  "  Every  law  is  a  Contract  between  the  King  and 
the  People,  and  therefore  to  be  kept."—  Table-Talk,  LXXVII,  4. 


I30  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

administration,  and  *'for  presbetrye  Itt  Is  as  distructive  to 
monarchye  as  uncomlye  in  it,  &  a  litle  to  sauseye  with  God 
Almightye  sans  seremoneye,  butt  lett  anye  tell  mee  wher  anye 
monarkeye  Is  wher  Itt  Is  planted,  naye  wher  theye  are  butt 
aloude  as  In  France  whatt  worke  have  theye  made  howe  manye 
Civell  warrs,  untill  Cardnall  Richelewe  tooke  order  with  them 
In  takinge  a  waye  all  theyr  stronge  Holdes."  Then  certain 
practical  tmths  as  to  the  regulation  of  Episcopacy  are  pro- 
pounded. The  bishops  should  be  wise  men,  as  they  have  a 
right  to  sit  in  the  upper  house  and  are  to  supervise  the  schools, 
so  that  no  weaver  can  scatter  heresy  among  the  pupils,  "  for 
sertenlye  as  wee  are  Bred,  off  thatt  Religion  or  opinion  wee 
are  off  for  the  moste  parte."  Let  each  minister  have  but  one 
living ;  let  the  preachers  confine  themselves  to  printed  ortho- 
dox sermons  and  catechisms  that  they  may  prevent  fanaticism 
from  creeping  into  the  fold.  *'The  Bible  in  Englishe  under 
everye  wevers  &  Chambermadyes  Arme  hath  dun  us  much 
hurte,"  writes  Newcastle,  as  he  reviews  the  Rebellion  in  the 
light  of  Hobbes's  system.  Therefore  only  Latin  books  of  con- 
troversy can  be  permitted,  the  press  must  be  subjected  to  a 
rigid  censorship,  and  the  number  of  students  in  colleges  and 
schools  limited.  Part  of  the  bishops'  function  is  to  report 
public  opinion,  together  with  the  movements  of  all  dangerous 
persons.  "  But  S"^  ther  Is  nothinge  can  so  well  setle  the 
church  &  keepe  Itt  In  order  as  the  power  to  bee  In  your  owne 
handes,  which  Is  the  Drum  &  the  Trumpett,  for  disputts  will 
never  have  an  Ende,  &  make  newe  &  greate  disorders,  butt 
force  quietts  all  thinges  &  so  this  amongeste  the  reste." 

One  great  protection  for  the  King  against  the  Church  was 
law,  but  of  late  that  has  increased  to  such  an  extent  that  it  must 
be  regulated.  Lawyers  have  multiplied  like  grasshoppers,  until 
now  one  cannot  get  a  decision  in  any  court  because  of  the  red 
tape  which  is  the  livelihood  of  that  profession.    Chancery  of 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  131 

course  is  the  most  dilatory  tribunal,  and  by  contrast  the  Star 
Chamber  the  most  efficient.  "They  will  saye  Indeed  whoe- 
soever  Coumes  ther,  iff  hee  scape  a  broken  pate  hee  Is  shure 
to  have  a  Scratchte  face,  butt  one  shoulde  aske  him  whye  hee 
coumes  Ther."  A  merciful  judge  turns  out  to  be  more  cruel 
in  the  end  than  a  severe  magistrate,  who  soon  gets  his  juris- 
diction so  well  in  hand  that  leniency  is  not  needed.  A  corrupt 
judge  ought  to  be  examined  by  the  King  in  person,  and  the 
sovereign  should  establish  a  record  office  in  each  county  to 
diminish  the  need  of  lawyers.  By  these  means  he  will  be  able 
to  keep  all  departments  under  his  control  and,  when  this  has 
been  accomplished,  to  govern  through  kindness.  '*  I  shoulde 
wishe  your  Ma*^^  to  Governe  by  both  Love  &  feare  mixte 
together  as  ocation  serves,  —  havinge  the  power  which  Is  forse 
&  never  to  use  Itt  butt  uppon  nesesetye,  when  ther  Is  eyther 
Comotion,  or  to  prevente  Itt,  when  anye  what  soever  begins 
to  Sowe  sedition  between  the  kinge  &  his  People  &  to  Governe 
as  God  Almightye  doth  by  promise  &  Threatninges  ;  Rewardes 
for  doinge  well  &  punishmentes  for  those  that  offende." 
Here  Newcastle  clearly  reveals  the  justification  of  Hobbes's 
philosophy  when  carried  out  to  its  impractical  ideal,  which  is 
not  so  very  different  from  many  another  Utopia ;  but  danger 
often  lies  in  the  methods  advocated  to  gain  this  common  end. 
Specific  suggestions  on  the  government  of  Scotland  and  Ire- 
land (not  Home  Rule,  needless  to  say)  and  on  diplomatic  rela- 
tions with  foreign  countries  follow,  though  their  particularity 
puts  them  beyond  the  province  of  literature. 

Again  the  Marquis  asserts  the  importance  of  ceremony  in 
accents  strongly  reminiscent  of  the  King  in  Henry  IV^:  "  Sere- 
monye  &  order  with  force,  Governes  all  both  In  Peace  &  Warr, 
&  keepes  Everye  man  &  Everye  thinge  within  the  Circle  off 
their  owne  Conditions,"  —  a  sentiment  which  finds  even  more 

1  Shakespeare's  Henry  IF,  Part  /,  Act  III,  scene  ii. 


132  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

striking  expression  in  Selden's  Table-Talk  :  '*  Ceremony  keeps 
up  all  things  :  'Tis  like  a  Penny-Glass  to  a  rich  Spirit,  or  some 
excellent  Water;  without  it  the  Water  were  spilt,  the  Spirit 
lost."  1  Therefore  the  King  is  to  hold  aloof  from  the  common 
herd  as  Queen  Elizabeth  did,  and  not  to  endure  familiarity 
even  in  his  bedchamber.  He  must  honor  the  nobility,  who  at 
the  worst  would  only  depose  him  in  favor  of  another  ruler, 
while  the  commons  are  hostile  to  all  monarchy.  At  the  same 
time  his  courtiers  must  continually  be  kept  up  to  a  high  level, 
for  sometimes  foppery  has  found  its  way  in  so  ruinously  that 
the  greatest  noble  in  England  would  be  jeered,  ''iff  hee  did 
nott  make  the  laste  monthes  Reverence  A  La  Mode  thatt  Came 
with  the  laste  Danser  frome  Paris  packte  upp  In  his  fidle 
Case."  The  royal  privileges  are  not  even  open  to  discussion, 
much  less  should  Parliament  be  allowed  supreme  power,  and 
to  prevent  this  the  King  must  keep  plenty  of  money  by  him 
—  good  advice  for  a  Stuart,  if  only  he  would  follow  it.  This 
money  is  for  rewarding  friends,  not  to  bribe  enemies,  a  mis- 
take frequently  made  in  former  times,  and  one  that  Hobbes 
condemned  with  severity.  To  Newcastle  it  is  ''the  Greateste 
Error  off  State  thatt  Ever  was  Committed  In  these  two  laste 
Raynes."  "The  Cardinall  de  Richelewe  was  the  wiseste  & 
Greateste  States-Man  in  his  times,  &  hee  went  playnlye  to 
worke  withoute  litle  Juglinges  hee  had  butt  two  thinges  which 
hee  did  All  withal,  which  was  moneye  &  Armes,  sayenge  iff 
the  moneye  would  nott  doe  the  Armes  woulde,  &  iff  the 
Armes  fayled  the  moneye  would  &  iff  theye  weare  Singlye 
to  weake  beinge  joyned  theye  woulde  Effecte  moste  thinges 
In  this  worlde." 

Although  Newcastle  warned  Charles  against  extravagance, 
he  also  added  to  his  pamphlet  a  section,  "  For  Your  Ma^^^^  Dever- 
tisementes."    They  were  to  include  masks,  balls,  and  plays, 

1  Table-Talk,  XI,  i. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M-^CENAS"  133 

riding  horses  in  the  manage,  tiltings  on  coronation  days,  hunt- 
ing and  hawking,  and  elaborate  progresses  through  the  coun- 
try. The  people  also  must  have  diversions  to  keep  them 
contentedly  loyal ;  the  "  Thou  shalt  nots  "  of  the  Protectorate 
had  already  prevented  gaiety  and  happiness  too  long.  Paris 
Garden,  the  home  of  bear-baiting,  and  all  the  theatres  shall  be 
open  wide  again,  there  will  be  puppet  plays  and  rope  danc- 
ing '*with  Guglers  &  Tumblers,  —  Besides  strange  Sightes,  off 
Beastes,  Birdes,  Monsters  &  manye  other  thinges  with  several! 
Sortes  off  Musike,  &  dansinge, — Ande  all  the  olde  Holedayes, 
with  their  Mirth,  &  rightes  sett  up  agen ;  Feastinge  daylaye 
will  be  in  Merry e  Englande,  for  Englande  Is  so  plentiful!  off 
all  provitiones,  that  iff  wee  doe  nott  Eate  them  theye  will  Eate 
Use,  so  wee  feaste  In  our  Defense."  ^  Many  of  these  amuse- 
ments shall  go  travelling  up  and  down  the  country-side  as  they 
were  wont  to  do,  but  the  rural  folk  have  their  own  relaxations 
as  well :  *'  Maye  Games,  Moris  Danses,  the  Lords  off  the  Maye, 
&  Ladye  off  the  Maye,  the  foole,  —  &  the  Hobye  Horse  muste 
nott  bee  forgotten.  —  Also  the  whitson  Lorde,  &  Ladye, — 
Thrashinge  off  Hens  at  Shrove-tite,  —  Caralls  &  wassells  att 
Christmas,  with  good  Plum  Porege  &  Pyes  which  nowe  are 
forbidden  as  prophane  ungodlye  thinges,  wakes,  —  Fayres  & 
markettes  mentaynes  Comerse  &  Trade,  —  &  affter  Eveninge 
Prayer  Everye  Sundaye  &  Holedaye,  —  The  Countereye  People 
with  their  fresher  Lasses  to  tripp  on  the  Toune  Greene  about 
the  Maye  pole,  to  the  Louder  Bagg-Pipe  ther  to  be  refreshte 
with  their  Ale  &  Cakes."  With  what  gusto  the  Marquis  writes 
of  the  good  old  days,  and  with  what  anticipation  he  looked  for- 
ward to  their  renewal !  It  is  sad  to  think  how  changed  was  the 

1  Compare  "  An  Apology  for  English  Gluttony "  in  Reliquice  Antiquce,  I, 
326-327  :  "  The  thyrde  cause  is  for  drede ;  we  have  so  grete  aboundance 
and  plente  in  ower  realme,  yf  that  we  shulde  not  kyll  and  dystroye  them, 
they  wolde  dystroy  and  devoure  us,  bothe  beste  and  fowles."  —  HarUian  Ms. 
asj3,  fol.  84,  v°  (of  Henry  VIII's  time). 


134  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

England  to  which  he  went  back,  and  sadder  still  to  realize  what 
Fate  held  in  store  for  Newcastle  himself.  The  ''Little  Book" 
did  not  hold  counsel  pleasing  to  the  second  Charles,  if  we  may 
judge  from  subsequent  events,  under  a  regime  where  pleasure 
and  not  policy  was  at  the  helm.^  It  contained  much  sound  prac- 
tical advice  none  the  less,  which  if  followed  might  have  delayed 
the  Stuart  downfall.  As  it  stands,  the  work  is  an  invaluable  com- 
mentary on  Hobbes's  philosophy  and  an  important  contribution 
to  the  political  literature  of  that  day.  It  does  not  look  forward, 
but,  turning  backward  with  the  keen  eye  of  experience,  it 
pierces  the  tangled  causes  of  the  Great  Rebellion.  The 
extreme  Royalist  view  is  set  forth,  after  a  lapse  of  years  had 
allowed  passions  to  cool  and  reason  to  reassert  itself ;  the  im- 
petuosity of  the  Cavalier  has  been  tempered  with  the  careful 
deliberation  of  a  Hobbes.  The  author's  personality  and  past 
history  merge  in  the  product,  which  is  as  unique  as  it  is  remark- 
able —  Newcastle  never  wrote  with  less  thought  of  the  public, 
but  never  with  better  effect. 

There  is  also  in  existence  at  Welbeck  Abbey  a  book  "  con- 
taining songs  and  sketches  of  plays  in  the  handwriting  of  the 
Duke "  which,  to  judge  from  the  scant  selection  given  by 
Mr.  Strong,^  must  have  been  composed  during  the  stay  in 
Flanders.  One  poem  was  to  have  been  spoken  before  a 
pastoral  drama  at  Antwerp  and  evidently  to  an  audience  of 
English  refugees,  since  it  defends  entertainments  given  in  the 
gloomy  days  of  exile.  Another  is  Upon  Giving  Mee  The  Late 
Kinges  Picture ;  a  third  was  to  be  set  to  music  by  Mr.  Lanier. 
We  know  that  such  a  song  was  rendered  at  the  ball  in  honor 
of  Charles  (1658),  and  this  may  have  been  the  identical  lyric 
sung  by  the  Duchess's  Moor : 

1  It  is  true  that  Charles  carried  out  some  of  Newcastle's  precepts,  especially 
in  regard  to  amusements  (Airy,  Charles  II,  p.  114),  but  the  spirit  of  his  reign 
was  entirely  opposed  to  the  "  Little  Book." 

2  Catalogue  of  Letters  etc.  at  Welbeck,  pp.  57-60. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  135 

Her  absence  makes  mee  suffer  for  her, 
Nott  greefe,  or  sorowe,  butt  whatts  Hor-rer, 
Fanside  [fancied]  softe  Virgins  murderde,  Bledinge, 
On  those  pewre  streames  sawe  Tigers  feedinge, 
Then  vewde  distracted  Parentts  Lienge, 
Cursinge  their  Fates,  Pininge,  &  Dyenge. 

There  follow  three  other  verses  of  '*  hor-rer  "  which  cause  the 
poet  to  exclaim, 

Therefore  returne  with  loves  Intention, 

For  frorae  Hells  thaughts,  Ther  is  redemtion. 

This  is  pretty  poor  stuff,  and   the  other  printed  verses  are 
scarcely  better. 

In  1658  Newcastle  had  published  at  Antwerp  his  first  book 
on  horsemanship,  which,  with  his  second  work  on  the  same 
subject,  has  secured  for  him  a  large  portion  of  his  present 
fame.^  With  that  fame  has  also  come  no  small  share  of  ridi- 
cule, for  riding  in  the  manage  soon  ceased  to  be  a  fashionable 
diversion,  and  nothing  is  more  absurd  than  an  outworn  fad. 
Bishop  Warburton  in  his  edition  of  Clarendon  ^  succinctly 
labelled  the  Duke  "a  fantastical  virtuoso  on  horseback,"  and 
the  occasion  was  too  good  for  Walpole  to  let  slip  without  a 
passing  sneer :  ^ 

He  was  fitter  to  break  Pegasus  for  a  manage  than  to  mount  him  on 
the  steeps  of  Parnassus.  Of  all  the  riders  of  that  steed,  perhaps  there 
have  not  been  a  more  fantastic  couple  than  his  grace  and  his  faithful 
duchess  who  was  never  off  her  pillion. 

1  Many  books  on  horsemanship  had  already  been  published  during  the  last 
part  of  the  sixteenth  and  the  first  part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  notably 
those  by  Gervase  Markham  :  A  Discourse  of  Horsemanshippe ;  Cavelarice,  or  the 
English  Horseman.,  etc.  See  Cambridge  History,  IV,  364-369,  and  F.  N.  Ruth's 
Works  on  Horses  and  Equitation.  Newcastle  seems  to  have  owed  little  or 
nothing  to  them,  however,  for  in  such  writing  the  author's  own  experience  is 
all-important ;  nor  would  the  Duke  have  condescended  to  sit  at  the  feet  of 
any  master  in  this,  his  chosen  subject. 

2  VII,  77.  8  ji  Catalogue  of  Royal  and  Noble  Authors,  ed.  Park,  III,  189. 


136  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

The  full  title  of  the  earlier  volume  is  La  MMode  Nouvelle  et 
Invention  extraordinaire  de  dresser  les  Chevaux  les  travailler 
selon  la  Nature  et  parfaire  la  nature  par  la  subtilt^  de  Vart ; 
la  quelle  na  jamais  et^  treuv^e  que  Par  Le  tres-noble  haut  et 
tres-puissant  Prince  Guillaumey  Marquis  et  Comte  de  New- 
castle etc,  etc.  Traduit  de  VAnglois  de  VAuteur  en  Francois 
par  son  Commandement}  Concerning  the  circumstances  of  its 
appearance  Newcastle  writes  to  Nicholas  on  February  15, 
1656-1657:2 

I  am  so  tormented  about  my  book  of  horsemanship  as  you  cannot 
believe,  with  a  hundred  several  trades,  I  think,  and  the  printing  will 
cost  above  ^^1300,  which  I  could  never  have  done  but  for  my  good 
friends  Sir  H.  Cartwright  and  Mr.  Loving ;  and  I  hope  they  shall  lose 
nothing  by  it,  and  I  am  sure  they  hope  the  like. 

In  1743  it  was  translated  back  into  English  to  form  the  first 
volume  of  A  General  System  of  Horsemanship  in  all  its 
Branches^  printed  by  John  Brindley,  Bookseller  to  the  Prince 
of  Wales. 

The  Introduction  states  Descartes's  opinion  that  horses  can 
reason  as  well  as  human  beings  and  the  author's  deduction 
that  they  must  therefore  be  taught  like  children,  i.  e.  by 
rewards  and  punishments.  The  First  Book  is  occupied  with 
considerations  of  color  and  shape  in  horses,  with  their  breed- 
ing, rearing,  and  breaking.  Book  II  explains  Newcastle's 
great  invention,  a  new  way  to  fasten  the  reins  of  the  cavesson,^ 
which  has  turned  out  to  be  a  panacea  for  ills  in  the  man- 
age. Lessons  are  given  on  how  to  supple  a  horse's  shoulders, 
how  to  make  him  obey  the  heel  or  bridle,  how  to  work  him 
with  the  false  reins,  with  the  bit,  or  with  the  reins  held  in 
the  left  hand.    All  these  exercises  are  given  for  the  gait  of 

1  On  June  29,  1653,  Newcastle  asks  Edgeman  to  procure  a  translator  for 
him.    See  Calendar  of  Clarendon  Papers^  II,  220. 

2  State  Papers  {^Domestic),  Record  Office.    See  Firth,  p.  206. 

*  A  cavesson  is  a  kind  of  stiff  noseband  used  in  training  horses. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  1 37 

terra-^- terra,  but  the  next  book  treats  of  the  so-called  ''airs"  : 
corvets,  groupades,  caprioles,  balotades,  and  demi-airs.  For 
these  airs,  the  horse  is  tied  to  the  single  pillar  by  a  rather 
short  rope  and  pricked  with  a  poinson  ^  to  help  out  the  rider's 
instruction.  One  essential  quality  in  a  well-trained  horse  is 
being  put  easily  upon  his  haunches  and  another  is  to  turn 
readily.  Book  IV  treats  of  w?ys  to  attain  these  and  other 
virtues ;  as  a  last  resort  one  is  to  let  the  horse  have  his  own 
way,  until  he  becomes  tired  of  it  and  willing  to  obey  his  rider. 
The  steed  must  not  bear  too  heavily  on  the  hand,  nor  should 
he  be  too  light  upon  it,  that  is,  not  to  have  a  good  appuy. 
An  "Epitome  of  Horsemanship"  emphasizes  certain  preceding 
points,  such  as  not  to  work  the  croup  of  a  horse  before  his 
shoulders  upon  a  circle,  while  an  Appendix  of  afterthoughts 
brings  the  treatise  to  a  conclusion. 

Much  more  interesting  to  the  average  reader  than  the  text 
of  this  volume  are  the  illustrations,  which  consist  of  forty-two 
—  with  the  title-page,  forty-three  —  copper-plate  engravings, 
designed  by  Abraham  Diepenbeck  and  executed  by  various 
skilled  workmen.  The  majority  show  Newcastle  and  his  master 
of  horse.  Captain  Mazarin,  executing  the  different  gaits  and 
evolutions  of  their  steeds.^  One  depicts  the  Marquis  and 
Marchioness,  their  three  daughters  and  sons-in-law,  together 
with  their  two  daughters-in-law,  watching  the  feats  of  their 
two  mounted  sons.  In  another,  Charles  II  is  guided  by  Pallas 
and  led  by  Mars,  with  Mercury  as  lackey  and  Cupid  as  page. 
Newcastle  himself  is  often  glorified,  for  we  see  him  crowned 
by  angels,  drawn  in  a  chariot  by  satyrs,  and,  most  frequently, 
worshipped  by  horses.  Verses  are  sometimes  appended,  com- 
posed by  a  Mr.  D.  V.,  of  whom  we  would  know  more,  for 
he  writes : 

^  The  wielder  of  this  instrument  stands  not  far  oflF  on  foot. 

2  The  landscape  frequently  contains  the  buildings  at  Bolsover  or  Welbeck. 


138  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Apres  I'homme  le  Cheval  le  plus  noble  animal 
Est  rendu  par  ce  Seigneur  si  juste  et  si  ^gal. 
Par  cette  Methode,  que  tout  le  monde  admire 
Qu'on  voit  aisement  qu'il  est  sujet  de  Son  Empire. 

And  again,  describing  the  picture  so  exactly  that  one  feels  it 
was  drawn  to  fit  his  poem : 

II  monte  avec  la  main  les  ^perons  et  gaule 
Le  Cheval  de  pegase  qui  voile  en  Capriole ; 
II  monte  si  haut  qu'il  touche  de  sa  teste  les  Cieux 
Et  par  ses  merveilles  ravit  en  extases  les  Dieux. 
Les  Chevaux  corruptibles  qui  Ik-bas  sur  terre  sont 
En  Courbettes  demi-airs,  terre  h.  terre  vont 
Avec  humilitid,  soumission  et  bassesse 
L'adorer  comme  Dieu  et  auteur  de  leur  adresse. 

In  1667  Newcastle  published  his  English  book  on  the 
subject,  *'  being  neither  a  Translation  of  the  first,  nor  an 
absolutely  necessary  Addition  to  it."  ^  Such  a  warning  seems 
necessary,  for  the  title  is  an  exact  equivalent  of  the  French 
already  cited.  There  are  no  engravings  to  lighten  this  disquisi- 
tion, but  its  style  is,  per  contra,  rather  informal  and  conver- 
sational. For  instance,  there  is  a  defense  of  the  refinements 
of  life,  riding  in  the  manage  being  one,  that  does  not  lack 
virility  or  force : 

It  is  True  that  if  there  was  nothing  Commendable  but  what  is  Use- 
ful, strictly  Examined ;  we  must  have  nothing  but  Hollow  Trees  for 
our  Houses,  Figg-leaf -Breeches  for  our  Clothes,  Acorns  for  our  Meat 
and  Water  for  our  Drink;  for  certainly  most  things  else  are  but 
Superfluities  and  Curiosities. 

Frederic  Grison,  the  Neapolitan  authority  on  horses,  and  his 
translator  Mr.  Blundeville  are  subjected  to  cutting  satire  : 

They  Bid  us  take  Heed,  by  any  Means,  Not  to  make  the  Horse  too 
Weak-Neckt;  which  is  a  Prime  Note!  But  Mr.  Blundevile  did  not 
know  that  all  Horses  are  a  stiff-Necked  Generation. 

1  "  To  the  Readers." 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS"  1 39 

The  Duke's  simple  egotism  and  pride  speak  out  in  a  most 
straightforward  and  attractive  manner : 

There  is  no  Horse-man  but  shall  Make  my  Horses  go,  for  his  Use, 
cither  in  a  Single  Combat,  or  in  the  Wars,  better  than  he  shall  any 
bodies  Horses  else;  and  that's  Sufficient:  for,  to  make  them  go  in 
Perfection  as  I  can,  were  too  much,  and  too  great  a  Miracle. 

Sir  Walter  Raleigh  is  mentioned  twice,  once  as  having  ''  told 
me,  That  in  the  West-Indies  there  were  the  Finest  Shap't 
Horses,  and  the  Finest  Colours  in  the  World,  beyond  all 
Spanish  Horses  and  Barbs  that  ever  he  saw ;  and  they  knew 
there  so  little  the  Use  of  Horses  that  they  killed  them  for 
their  Skins" — a  most  engaging  traveller's  tale!  Again  it  is 
recorded  that  "  Sir  Walter  Rawley  said  well,  That  there  are 
Stranger  Things  in  the  World  than  between  Stains  and 
London." 

The  plan  of  this  1667  volume  follows  the  early  work^  but 
differs  materially  in  its  proportions.  Each  separate  breed  of 
horses  is  taken  up  for  a  careful  analysis,  the  division  treating 
of  farriery  and  the  veterinary  art  is  somewhat  augmented,  and, 
indeed,  the  whole  book  seems  merely  an  elaboration  of  certain 
points  in  the  earlier  treatise.  The  author  says  it  *'  may  be  of 
use  by  it  self,"  but  that  must  be  for  those  who  already  know 
something  of  the  manage ;  for  uninitiated  readers  La  MMode 
Native  lie  is  more  instructive,  though  ''both  together  will 
questionless  do  best."  The  Duke  had  his  second  text  also 
turned  into  French  and  published  both  versions  in  the  same 
year  at  London.  A  French  copy  fell  into  the  hands  of 
Monsieur  de  SoUeysel,  whose  own  knowledge  of  horsemanship 
enabled  him  to  detect  the  faults  in  translation  and  who  wrote 
to  Newcastle  asking  permission  to  undertake  a  more  perfect 
rendering.   This  the  Englishman  granted,  and  afterwards,  with 

1  Both  have  four  parts  and  an  "  Epitome  of  Horsemanship  "  added. 


140  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

his  grandson  as  intermediary,  he  approved  certain  notes  and 
explanations  added  by  de  Solleysel.^  A  German  translation 
by  Johann  Philipp  Ferdinand  Pernauer  followed  in  1 700.  It 
was  printed  at  Nuremberg  with  the  French  in  a  parallel 
column  and  was  adorned  by  essentially  Teutonic  attempts  to 
reproduce  the  plates  of  Newcastle's  earlier  work.  Thus  it  may 
be  seen  that  the  Marquis's  two  books  had  a  decided  vogue 
and  at  once  became  the  authorities  on  manage,  which  they 
have  ever  since  remained. 

Gerard  Langbaine  confirms  this  popularity,  both  directly  by 
anecdote  and  indirectly  by  an  admission  of  his  own  indebtedness 
to  Cavendish :  ^ 

Signior  del  Campo,  One  of  the  most  knowing  Riders  of  his  Time, 
said  to  the  Duke  (upon  his  Dismounting)  as  it  were  in  an  Extasie,  // 
faut  tirer  la  Planche ;  The  Bridge  must  be  drawn  up  :  Meaning  that 
no  Rider  must  presume  to  come  in  Horsemanship  after  him.  M.  De 
Soleisel  (one  of  the  best  Writers  that  I  have  met  with  amongst  the 
French)  when  he  enlarged  his  Le  Par/ait  Mareschal,  borrowed  the 
Art  of  Breeding  from  the  Duke's  Book,  as  he  owns  in  his  Avis  au 
Lecteur-.  and  stiles  him  Un  des  accomplis  Cavaliers  de  ndtre  temps. 
But  having  nam'd  this  Foreigner's  borrowing  from  his  Grace,  I  should 
justly  deserve  to  be  branded  with  Ingratitude,  should  I  not  own.  That 
'tis  to  the  Work  of  this  Great  Man,  that  I  am  indebted  for  several 
Notions  borrow'd  from  his  Grace,  in  a  little  Essay  of  Horsemanship, 
printed  8°  Oxon.  1685. 

This  refers  to  The  Hunter:  a  Discourse  of  Horsemanships 
published  by  Leonard  Lichfield  and  bound  up  with  the  third 
edition  of  Nicholas  Cox's  Gentleman  s  Recreation?  Langbaine's 
predisposition  in  favor  of  Newcastle,  whether  as  general  or 
author,  may  perhaps  rest  on  this  common  interest  in  horseman- 
ship, a  subject  at  which  the  nobleman  excelled  both  in  his  age 
and  for  all  time. 

^  See  reprint  with  the  German  version.  ^  Langbaine,  p.  388. 

*  The  article  on  Langbaine  in  Diet.  Nat.  Biog. ;  and  The  Gentleman'' s  Recrea- 
tion, 1686. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS"  141 

While  the  Marquis  and  Marchioness  were  still  on  the  Con- 
tinent, they  acquired  one  literary  friend  whose  name  was  to 
echo  down  the  ages  in  no  very  dignified  manner.  What  is 
more,  they  became  so  extremely  intimate  with  Richard  Fleck- 
noe  that  a  great  admiration  developed  on  both  sides.  The 
earliest  indication  of  it  was  some  verses  by  Newcastle  prefixed 
in  1655  ^  to  this  poetaster's  A  Relation  of  Ten  Years'  Travels 
in  Europe ^  Asia,  Affrique,  and  America.  Three  years  later 
Flecknoe  first  brought  out  his  Enigmaticall  Characters,  all 
taken  to  the  Life  from  several  Persons,  Humours,  and  Dis- 
positions, and  again  Newcastle  launches  into  hyperbolic  com- 
pliment. Here  there  are  two  introductory  poems  by  him,  of 
which  the  first  runs : 

Fleckno,  thy  Characters  are  so  full  of  wit 
And  fancy,  as  each  word  is  throng'd  with  it, 
Each  line 's  a  volume,  and  who  reads  would  swear. 
Whole  Libraries  were  in  each  Character : 
Nor  Arrows  in  a  quiver  struck,  nor  yet 
Lights  in  the  Starry  Skies  are  thicker  set. 
Nor  Quils  upon  the  Armed  Porcepine, 
Than  wit  and  Fancy  in  this  Work  of  thine. 

The  complacent  author  reciprocates  this  flattery,  for  his  char- 
acter '*Of  a  certain  Nobleman"  2  is  evidently  drawn  from  New- 
castle, whom,  as  we  shall  see,  he  later  mentions  by  name  in 
similar  terms.  The  anonymous  nobleman  here  '*  remembers 
his  Ancestors  more  to  their  praise  than  his  own  .  .  .  swels 
not  with  speaking  big,  but  is  courteous  and  affable  to  all, 
holding  courtesie  so  main  an  ornament  of  Nobility,  as  that 
Nobleman  (he  imagines)  disguises  but  himself,  and  puts  on 
Pesants  cloathing,  who  is  discourteous ;  above  all  he  holds 
loyalty  so  essential  to  a  Nobleman,  as  who  proves  disloyall 
once  (he  imagines)  not  only  degrades  himself,  but  even  his 
posterity  of  their  Nobility." 

^  The  article  on  Flecknoe,  Diet.  Nat.  Biog.,  gives  the  date  as  1656.     ^  p  jq^. 


142  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

After  the  death  of  Cromwell,  in  1658,  Flecknoe  published 
a  panegyric  upon  him/  so  that  when  the  Restoration  occurred 
he  found  it  wise  to  bring  out  his  Heroick  Portraits  to  ingra- 
tiate himself  with  the  new  administration.  Charles  led  the 
array,  and  among  the  other  descriptions  was  one  of  Newcastle, 
praising  the  Marquis  for  his  ability,  wisdom,  and  generosity.  To 
him  Flecknoe  dedicated,  in  1664,  Loves  Kingdom.  A  Pastoral 
Trage-Comedy.  Not  as  it  was  acted  at  the  Theatre  near  Lin- 
coln's Inn^  but  as  it  was  written  and  since  corrected?  Attached 
to  it  was  A  Discourse  of  the  English  Stage  in  the  form  of  a 
letter  to  his  patron,  which  Langbaine  takes ^  ''to  be  the  best 
thing  he  has  extant."  A  Farrago  of  Several  Pieces  appeared 
in  1666,  dedicated  to  the  Duchess  as  a  thank  offering  for  her 
hospitality  and  assistance.  It  contains  a  prose  ''  pourtrait "  of 
her  and  various  verses  celebrating  the  two  Newcastles.  Among 
them  are  To  Janus.  Recommending  Welbeck  to  him.  On  New- 
yearsday  l666y    The  Birth-Day^  and 

Of  Welbeck 
The  Duke  of  Newcastles  house 
Where  he  enteHain'd 
The  last  King  so  magnificently^  Anno  jj> 

On  the  Dutchess  of  Newcastles  Closset  breathes  an  atmosphere 
of  the  most  sycophantic  abasement :  ^ 

What  place  is  this  ?  looks  like  some  sacred  Cell 

Where  ancient  Hermits  formerly  did  dwell 

And  never  ceast  importunating  Heaven, 

Till  some  great  blessing  unto  Earth  was  given .? 

Is  this  a  Ladies  Closset  ?  't  cannot  be, 

For  nothing  here  of  vanity  we  see, 

Nothing  of  curiosity,  nor  pride, 

As  most  of  Ladies  Clossets  have  beside. 

1  Printed  in  1659.         2  T^g  earlier  version  was  known  as  Love's  Dominion. 
^  P.  203.  *  Lohr's  dissertation  on  Flecknoe,  p.  85. 

®  Epi^ams  0/1670,  p.  26;  and  Lohr's  dissertation,  p.  85. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  143 

Scarcely  a  Glass,  or  Mirror  in  't  you  finde 
Excepting  Books  the  Mirrors  of  the  minde. 
Nor  is  't  a  Library,  but  onely  as  she 
Makes  each  place  where  she  comes  a  Library. 
Here  she 's  in  rapture,  here  in  extasie. 
With  studying  high,  and  deep  Philosophy : 
Here  those  cleer  lights  descend  into  her  minde, 
Which  by  reflection  in  her  Books  you  finde : 
And  those  high  Notions,  and  Idea's  too. 
Which  but  her  self,  no  Ladies  ever  knew. 
Whence  she 's  the  chiefest  Ornament  and  Grace 
O'  th'  times,  and  of  her  Sex.    Hayle  sacred  place, 
To  which  the  world  in  after-times  shall  come 
As  unto  Homers  Shrine,  or  Virgils  Tomb ; 
Honouring  the  Walls,  wherein  she  made  aboad. 
The  air  she  breath'd,  &  ground  whereon  she  trod. 
So  Fame  rewards  the  Arts,  and  so  agen 
The  Arts  reward  all  those  who  honour  them ; 
Whilst  those  in  any  other  things  do  trust. 
Shall  after  death  lye  in  forgotten  dust. 

The  incongruities  of  this  piece  are  only  equalled  by  its  utter 
lack  of  sophistication. 

Flecknoe  dedicated  his  Damoiselles  a  la  Mode  (1667)  to 
the  Duke  and  Duchess,  and  in  the  Epigrams  of  all  Sorts^ 
made  at  Divers  Times  on  Several  Occasions  of  1670  he  offers 
additional  homage  to  them.  In  this  collection  are  reprinted  some 
of  the  Cavendish  poems  contained  in  the  Farrago  and  one  new 
effort,  contrasting  Newcastle  with  ''  an  unworthy  Nobleman  " :  ^ 

But  now  behold  a  Nobleman  indeed, 
Such  as  w'  admire  in  story  when  we  read ; 
Who  does  not  proudly  look  that  you  shud  doff 
Your  hat,  and  make  a  reverence  twelve  score  of ; 
Nor  take  exceptions,  if  at  every  word 
You  call  him  not  his  Grace  or  else  ?ny  Lord\ 
But  does  appear  a  hundred  times  more  great 
By  his  neglect  of 't,  than  by  keeping  state. 

1  Epigrams^  p.  34. 


144  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

He  knows  Civility  and  Curtesie, 

Are  chief  est  signes  of  true  Nobility ; 

And  that  which  gains  them  truest  honourers, 

Is  their  own  Vertues,  not  their  Ancesters. 

By  which  through  all  degrees  that  he  has  past, 

Of  Viscount,  Earl,  Marquis,  and  Duke  at  last, 

H'  as  always  gain'd  the  general  esteem 

Of  honouring  those,  more  than  they  honour'd  him. 

These  verses  appear  again  in  A  Collection  of  the  Choicest 
Epigrams  and  Characters  of  Richard  Flecknoe^  1673,  with 
other  of  the  earher  panegyrics  and  an  elegy  On  the  Death  of 
the  Lady  Jean  Cheney}  who,  one  supposes,  was  Newcastle's 
eldest  daughter.  Euterpe  Revived^  1675,  is  still  another  col- 
lection of  epigrams  old  and  new,  one  being  occasioned  by  the 
Duchess's  life  of  her  husband :  ^ 

Ne'er  was  life  more  worthy  to  be  writ, 
Nor  pen  more  worthy  of  the  writing  it. 
She  makes  you  famous,  and  you  her  agen 
By  th'  famous  subject  you  afford  her  pen. 
Whence  't  is  a  question  ever  will  remain, 
Whe'er  fame  makes  writers,  or  else  writers,  fame. 
So,  whilst  you  live  i'  the  life  that  she  does  give, 
And  she  in  writing  of  your  life  will  live. 
Betwixt  you  both  your  fame  will  never  die, 
But  one  give  t'  other  immortality. 

Flecknoe's  literary  ability  was  mediocre,  if  not  worse,  and  it 
may  even  deserve  the  consummate  scorn  heaped  upon  it  by 
his  contemporaries  and  immortalized  by  Dryden.  Cavendish, 
however,  seems  to  have  been  blind  to  the  writer's  defects,  as 
he  was  to  those  of  any  author  who  would  flatter  him  highly  and 
consistently  enough.  So  it  was  that  the  persistent  Flecknoe 
praised  him  for  the  course  of  twenty  years  and  no  doubt 
throughout  that  period  received  the  reward  of  his  devotion. 

2  p.  13.  Quoted  in  Walpole's  Catalogue,  ed.  Park,  III,  147,  n. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  145 

IV 

PATRONAGE  AFTER  THE  RESTORATION  (1660-1676) 

Meanwhile  Newcastle  had  returned  from  Flanders  to  the 
changed  England  of  the  Restoration.  If  he  ever  wrote  a 
comedy,  The  Exile ^  attributed  to  him  by  Whincop/  its  title 
would  assign  it  to  this  period.  Yet  no  other  mention  of  this 
work  is  found  any  more  than  of  The  Heyresse,  which  Pepys 
deposes  to  have  been  ''  wrote,  they  say,  by  my  Lord  New- 
castle." 2  The  Duke  did,  however,  produce  a  play  entitled 
The  Humorous  Lovers  not  long  after  his  home-coming.  It 
was  published  posthumously  in  1677,  but  must  have  been 
acted  at  least  ten  years  earlier,  for  Pepys  saw  it  on  March  30, 
1667,  at  the  Duke  of  York's  Theatre.  He  wrongly  attributes 
it  to  the  Duchess  and  perhaps  for  that  reason  labels  it  **the 
most  silly  thing  that  ever  come  upon  a  stage.  I  was  sick  to 
see  it,"  but  adds,  *'yet  would  not  but  have  seen  it,  that  I 
might  the  better  understand  her."  As  the  title  of  this  comedy 
suggests,  it  is  also  of  the  Jonsonian  school,  slightly  adapted  to 
accord  with  changing  fashions  in  the  theatre.  Furrs,  for  ex- 
ample, the  old  gentleman  always  wrapped  up  for  fear  of  catch- 
ing cold,  is  a  palpable  modification  of  Morose  with  his  dislike 
of  noise  and,  like  him,  furnishes  excellent  comic  material.^  On 
the  other  hand,  his  illegitimate  daughter,  the  innocent  Dameris, 
who  is  country  bred  but  instructed  in  worldly  wisdom  by  crafty 
Mistress  Hood,  savors  far  more  of  the  Restoration  ingenue 
than  of  the  preceding  era.  It  is  true  that  we  do  not  see  her 
actually  employing  feminine  arts,  save  for  the  simple  ''  I  have 
seen  nothing  Sir,  but  the  Paradise  in  Shoo-lane  "  ;  ^  yet  her 

1  Theatrical  Records,  p.  75 ;  and  Walpole's  Catalogue,  ed.  Park,  III,  192,  n. 

2  February  i  and  2,  1 688-1 689. 

^  As  when  his  proposed  rival  strips  off  the  coverings  and  hales  him  out 
under  a  pump.  *  P.  33. 


146  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

old  schoolmistress's  advice  foreshadows  such  characters  as 
Miss  Prue  and  Miss  Hoyden.  Courtly  and  Emilia  are  com- 
monplace lovers,  while  Sir  Anthony  Altalk,  who  lives  up  to 
his  surname,  falls  into  line  with  many  another  loquacious 
"  pretender." 

What  originality  and  interest  there  are  in  the  play  rest  on 
the  main  plot  concerning  Colonel  Boldman  and  the  widow. 
Lady  Pleasant.  This  story  of  feigned  madness  is  only  a  frame- 
work for  strange  conceits  and  fantastic  poems,  but  its  essence 
is  that  used  by  Congreve  for  the  Angelica- Valentine  portion 
of  Love  for  Love.  The  later  dramatist  too  is  almost  as  obscure 
as  Newcastle  in  regard  to  '*  whys  "  and  '*  wherefores."  Such  a 
lack  of  motivation  and  the  fact  that  what  explanation  is  vouch- 
safed occurs  after  the  event,  centres  the  attention  not  on  the 
persons  but  on  their  peculiar  actions.  This  procedure  causes 
a  loss  in  dramatic  effect,  but  the  low  order  of  entertainment 
that  results  is  successful  for  a  time  if  the  surprises  are  made 
striking  enough.  Boldman's  disregard  for  all  women  is  upset 
by  his  swift  capitulation  to  the  Widow,  and  her  subsequent 
floutings  at  his  assumed  powder  and  perfume  give  cause  for 
the  lover's  insanity,  which  becomes  even  more  diverting.  The 
Colonel's  threats  to  haunt  Lady  Pleasant  and  his  lunatic 
attempts  to  square  a  circle  are  followed  by  the  scene  in  which 
he  gazes  at  his  loved  one  through  a  perspective  glass,  as  though 
he  were  at  Calais  and  she  on  Dover  Cliif.  Finally  the  maid 
Tatle  describes  how  the  madman  attempted  to  climb  up  a  chim- 
ney and  was  pulled  down,  only  to  escape  from  surveillance 
again,  an  adventure  which  explains  his  extraordinary  tirade :  ^ 

In  my  Loves  despair  I  fell 
Down  to  that  Furnace  we  call  Hell : 
The  first  strange  thing  that  I  did  mark 
Was  many  fires,  and  yet  't  was  dark : 

1  Pp.  47-48. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS'*  I47 

Instead  of  costly  Arras  there 
The  walls  poor  sooty  hangings  were ; 
Spirits  went  about  each  Room 
With  pans  of  sulphur  for  perfume : 
Sod  tender  Ladies  in  a  pot 
For  broths,  and  jellies  they  had  got ; 
The  spits  were  loaded  with  poor  sinners 
That  Devils  wasted  for  their  dinners  ; 
While  some  were  drying  damned  souls, 
Others  made  rashers  on  the  coals : 
The  waiting  Women  they  did  stew, 
That  robb'd  their  Ladies  of  their  due : 
Gammons  of  Us'rers  down  were  taken. 
That  hung  i'  th'  chimney  for  their  bacon : 
Here  Lawyers  bak'd  in  Ovens  stand. 
For  couzening  Clients  of  their  Land : 


In  throngs  where  new-come  sinners  stood, 

A  Reverend  Lady  lost  her  hood : 

A  Chamber-maid  cry'd  out,  alas, 

A  Devil  had  broke  her  Looking-glass ; 

A  Merchant  cry'd,  burnt  was  his  Stuff, 

A  City  Wife  did  singe  her  Muff : 

A  Purchaser  did  howling  cry 

Alas,  his  Deeds  and  Seals  did  fry : 

A  Courtier  lost  his  Perriwig, 

A  Hector  lost  his  looking  big : 

Of  Whoremasters,  there  was  great  store 

Who  pleaded,  they'd  been  burnt  before : 

The  Drunkards  that  were  in  the  rout. 

At  last  did  piss  the  fires  out : 

Hell  being  spoil'd  I  came  away. 

And  sinners  now  make  holy  day. 

As  a  corollary  to  this  astounding  document  may  be  noted 

the  conceit  of  an  aerial  banquet  to  which  the  madman  invites 

Lady  Pleasant :  ^ 

Unto  a  Feast  I  will  invite  thee. 

Where  various  dishes  shall  delight  thee ; 

1  Pp.  51-52. 


148  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

The  steeming  vapours  drawn  up  hot 
From  Earth,  that 's  Nature  porridge-pot 
Shall  be  our  broth ;  we  '1  drink  my  dear 
The  thinner  air  for  our  small  beer ; 
And  if  thou  lik'st  it  not,  I  'le  call  aloud, 
And  make  our  Butler  broach  a  cloud ; 
Of  paler  Planets,  for  thy  sake, 
White-pots,  and  trembling  Custards  make ; 
The  twinkling  stars  shall  to  our  wish 
Make  a  Grand  Salad  in  a  dish ; 
Snow  for  our  sugar  shall  not  fail 
Fine  candied  ice,  comfits  of  hail ; 
For  Oranges  gilt  clouds  we  '1  squeeze, 
The  milkie  way  we  '1  turn  to  cheese ; 
Sun-beams  we  '1  catch,  shall  stand  in  place 
Of  hotter  Ginger,  Nutmegs,  Mace ; 
Sun-setting  Clouds  for  Roses  sweet, 
And  Violet  skies  strow'd  for  our  feet ; 
The  Sphears  shall  for  our  Musick  play, 
While  Spirits  dance  the  time  away ; 
When  we  drink  healths,  Jove  shall  be  proud 
Th'  old  Cannoneer  to  fire  a  Cloud, 
That  all  the  Gods  may  know  our  mirth. 
And  trembling  Mortals  too  on  earth ; 
And  when  our  Feasting  shall  be  done 
I  'le  lead  thee  up  hill  to  the  Sun, 
And  place  thee  there  that  thy  eyes  may 
Add  greater  lustre  to  the  day. 

The  conclusion  of  the  affair  between  these  *'  humorous 
lovers  "  turns  the  tables  in  a  carefully  planned  surprise  end- 
ing. When  the  Widow  is  at  last  reduced  to  tears  by  Bold- 
man's  continued  ravings,  it  transpires  that  she  has  been  the 
victim  of  a  plot  hatched  by  the  others  against  her  unreason- 
able and  unnecessary  contempt  for  the  Colonel.  They  are 
united  of  course,  none  the  less,  but  other,  more  unlooked-for 
occurrences  take  place.  Furrs  marries  not  Mistress  Hood,  as 
one  would  expect,  but  Tatle,  while  the  schoolmistress  contents 
herself  with  James,  Master  Furrs 's  manservant.    Sir  Anthony 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS"  149 

is  beguiled  into  wedding  the  penniless  Dameris  on  the  sup- 
position that  she  is  her  father's  heir,  in  the  manner  we  have 
seen  Newcastle  employing  so  frequently  throughout  his  earlier 
dramas.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  this  comedy  is,  like 
The  Variety,  largely,  if  not  entirely,  his  own  work.  It  shows 
the  constant  use  of  Surprise  for  Suspense  so  common  with 
the  inexperienced  playwright;  it  is  composed  for  the  most 
part  of  humors,  eccentricities,  and  conceits ;  and  it  contains 
at  least  one  Cavalier  lyric, 

I  love  the  fat,  I  love  the  fair, 

The  lean,  that 's  nimble  full  of  air ;  ^ 

written  in  the  same  strain  as  those  of  The  Variety. 

Finally,  the  masque  in  Act  III^  may  well  be  the  work  of 
Cavendish,  for  whom  Ben  Jonson  had  long  before  written  two 
similar  entertainments.  After  the  Restoration  that  form  of 
diversion  was  held  outworn  and  in  small  esteem,  so  that  any 
author  incorporating  it  in  his  play  unmistakably  characterized 
himself  as  a  contemporary  of  the  first  Charles.  Thus  it  was 
that  the  Duke,  reverting  to  the  pleasures  of  his  youth,  intro- 
duced a  masque,  with  the  professed  purpose  of  weaving  an 
enchantment  around  Boldman  but  really  to  bring  in  Cupid 
and  Venus,  their  songs  and  dances.  The  Colonel  is  repre- 
sented by  a  lay  figure,  into  which  the  deities  of  Love  stick 
poisoned  arrows ;  but  somewhat  livelier  is  an  antimasque  of 
the  Winds,  who  appear  with  bellows  to  plague  old  Master 
Furrs.  This  divertisement  has  no  organic  right  to  exist,  nor 
is  it  justified  by  any  beautiful,  if  unnecessary,  adornment  asso- 
ciated therewith ;  indeed,  it  is  merely  a  dim  reflection  of  more 
spacious  and  more  distant  glories.  Greater  genius  than  that 
of  Newcastle  would  have  been  needed  to  revive  interest  in 
the  masque,  at  a  court  where  stately  pleasures  were  no  longer 

1  P.  2.  a  Pp.  28-32. 


ISO  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

the  mode,  so  that  naturally  the  lesser  man  met  with  neglect 
and  derision.  Except  for  Pepys's  reference  and  the  partial 
Langbaine's  mild  comment  that  ''  this  Play  equals  most  Com- 
edies of  this  Age,"  the  work  seems  to  have  passed  at  once 
into  oblivion.  After  reading  The  Humorous  Lovers^  one  can 
hardly  wonder. 

Perhaps  because  of  the  comparative  failure  of  his  unassisted 
production,  Newcastle  shortly  after  took  to  collaboration  again, 
this  time  with  the  dominant  figure  in  Restoration  literature. 
On  August  1 6,  1667,  Sir  Martin  Mar-all ;  or  The  Feign  d 
Innocence  was  originally  acted,  the  author  being  unnamed, 
although  the  play  was  entered  at  Stationers'  Hall  as  by 
Cavendish.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  nobleman  was  in  some 
way  connected  with  it,  for  Pepys,  who  attended  the  first  per- 
formance and  who  was  generally  well  up  on  theatrical  gossip, 
calls  it,  ''a  play  made  by  my  Lord  Duke  of  Newcastle,  but, 
as  every  body  says,  corrected  by  Dryden."  The  next  year  it 
was  published  anonymously,  but  a  reprint  of  1691  definitely 
attributes  it  to  the  greater  writer, ^  whom  every  subsequent 
copy  names  as  the  author.  Downes  in  his  Roscius  AnglicanuSy 
or  an  Historical  Review  of  the  Stage  iddo-iyod^  dated  in 
1708,  furnishes  the  most  specific  external  evidence  we  have, 
asserting  that  Newcastle  gave  Mr.  Dryden ^  "a  bare  Transla- 
tion of  it,  out  of  a  Comedy  of  the  famous  French  Poet, 
Monsieur  Moleiro :  He  Adopted  the  Part  purposely  for  the 
Mouth  of  Mr.  Nokes  and  curiously  Polishing  the  whole."  The 
Duke,  it  will  be  remembered,  had  his  works  on  horsemanship 
turned  into  French  by  some  one  else,  but  no  doubt  he  knew  that 
language  well  enough  to  translate  Moli^re ;  residence  abroad 
could  not  have  failed  to  perfect  his  youthful  accomplishment. 

1  This  reprint  is  part  of  the  1695  edition  of  Dryden's  works.  In  the  Scott- 
Saintsbury  edition  and  elsewhere  the  independent  edition  of  1697  is  men- 
tioned as  being  the  first  to  have  Dryden's  name. 

a  Reprint  of  1886,  p.  28. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  151 

If  Downes's  assertion  is  correct,  it  definitely  limits  the 
amount  of  Newcastle's  participation  in  Sir  Martin,  since  a 
very  small  proportion  of  that  play  comes  direct  from  LEtourdi. 
Even  what  does  derive  from  it  is  radically  changed,^  for  in 
Dryden  the  heroine  Millisent  marries  not  her  blundering  suitor, 
but  Warner,  his  clever  servant.  Quinault's  LAmant  Indiscret 
furnishes  a  large  share  of  Acts  I  and  II,  and  the  adapter's 
own  invention  is  responsible  for  much  new  material.  Dryden 
must  be  held  the  inventor  of  that  famous  scene  in  which 
Sir  Martin  pretends  to  play  upon  his  lute  and  —  a  much 
graver  charge  —  of  the  entire  '*  Feigned  Innocence  "  story  with 
all  its  objectionable  features.  The  final  result  was  most  satis- 
factory, as  the  extreme  popularity  of  this  piece  testified.  After 
its  premiere  at  the  Duke  of  York's  Theatre  (probably  given 
here  at  the  request  of  Newcastle,  for  Dryden  was  employed 
by  the  other  house),  it  ran  thirty-two  nights  and  had  more 
than  four  performances  at  court.^  Pepys  saw  it  seven  or  eight 
times  and  records  with  an  ever-increasing  crescendo  of  enthu- 
siasm :  ''It  is  the  most  entire  piece  of  mirth,  a  complete 
farce  from  one  end  to  the  other,  that  certainly  was  ever  writ. 
I  never  laughed  so  in  all  my  life.  I  laughed  till  my  head 
ached  all  the  evening  and  night  with  the  laughing;  and  at 
very  good  wit  therein,  not  fooling";^  and  again,  "saw  'Sir 
Martin  Marr-all,'  which  the  more  I  see,  the  more  I  like."  *  De- 
spite its  coarseness,  this  play  is  by  far  the  most  amusing  of 
Dryden's  comedies,  the  humor  is  by  no  means  contemptible, 
and  it  must  act  capitally.  Even  if  Downes's  account  of  the 
collaboration  is  rejected,  Newcastle's  share  in  it  shrinks  to 
a  minimum,  as  the  Duke  shows  nowhere  a  particle  of  the 
dramatic  skill  employed  in  the   construction  of  Sir  Martin 

^  L.  Albrecht's  Dryden's  ^^  Sir  Martin  Mar-air'  in  Bezug  auf  seine  Quellen^ 
Rostock,  1906.  *  August  16,  1667. 

^  Downes,  Reprint  of  1886,  p.  31.  *  April  25,  1668. 


152  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Mar-all^  much  less  any  ability  to  write  pointed  and  animated 
dialogue.  What  is  more,  Newcastle  has  already  been  found 
with  Shirley's  work  masquerading  under  his  name,  and  it  will 
later  be  seen  that  he  also  received  literary  assistance  from 
Shadwell.  In  the  case  under  consideration  Dryden  was  to 
father  his  comedy  on  Newcastle,  but  the  truth  gradually  leaked 
out  and  after  the  nobleman's  death  there  was  no  reason  why 
its  rightful  authorship  should  be  concealed.  The  ethics  of 
such  a  substitution  presumably  troubled  neither  party  to  it, 
in  a  day  when  literature  was  merely  an  adjunct  of  society; 
but  time,  as  so  often,  has  set  the  matter  right,  rendering 
honor  to  whom  honor  is  due. 

That  this  arrangement  may  have  rested  upon  a  pecuniary 
basis  seems  quite  likely,  for  the  very  next  year,  1668,  Dryden 
brought  out  An  Evening  s  Love  ;  or,  The  Mock  Astrologer.  It 
was  soon  printed,  with  a  dedication  ^  to  Newcastle  ^  owning 
'*  my  great  obligations  to  your  grace,"  and  revealing  Dryden's 
marked  tendency  to  crook  the  pregnant  hinges  of  the  knee. 
Yet  it  is  written  as  only  Dryden  in  his  day  knew  how  to  write, 
in  such  fluent  and  well-rounded  prose  as  was  never  addressed 
to  Newcastle  by  any  other  hand.  Smoothly  and  felicitously  it 
reviews  the  course  of  the  Duke's  life : 

I  As  you  came  into  the  world  with  all  the  advantages  of  a  noble  birth 

and  education,  so  you  have  rendered  both  yet  more  conspicuous  by 
your  virtue.  Fortune,  indeed,  has  perpetually  crowned  your  under- 
takings with  success,  but  she  has  only  waited  on  your  valour,  not 
conducted  it.  She  has  ministered  to  your  glory  like  a  slave,  and  has 
been  led  in  triumph  by  it ;  or,  at  most,  while  honour  led  you  by  the 
hand  to  greatness,  fortune  only  followed  to  keep  you  from  sliding 
back  in  the  ascent.    That,  which  Plutarch  accounted  her  favour  to 

1  Scott-Saintsbury  Dryden,  III,  229-236. 

2  In  speaking  of  the  fact  in  his  "  Life  of  Dryden,"  Dr.  Johnson  moralizes  after 
this  fashion :  "  It  is  unpleasing  to  think  how  many  names,  once  celebrated,  are 
since  forgotten.  Of  Newcastle's  works  nothing  is  now  known  but  his  Treatise 
on  Horsemanship."  —  Lives  of  the  Poets,  ed.  Waugh,  II,  141. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  153 

Cymon  and  Lucullus,  was  but  her  justice  to  your  grace ;  and,  never  to 
have  been  overcome  where  you  led  in  person,  as  it  was  more  than 
Hannibal  could  boast,  so  it  was  all  that  Providence  could  do  for  that 
party,  which  it  had  resolved  to  ruin.  Thus,  my  lord,  the  last  smiles 
of  victory  were  on  your  arms ;  and  everywhere  else  declaring  for  the 
rebels,  she  seemed  to  suspend  herself,  and  to  doubt,  before  she  took 
her  flight,  whether  she  were  able  wholly  to  abandon  that  cause,  for 
which  you  fought. 

But  the  greatest  trials  of  your  courage  and  constancy  were  yet  to 
come :  Many  had  ventured  their  fortunes,  and  exposed  their  lives  to 
the  utmost  dangers  for  their  king  and  country,  who  ended  their  loy- 
alty with  the  war ;  and,  submitting  to  the  iniquity  of  the  times,  chose 
rather  to  redeem  their  former  plenty,  by  acknowledging  an  usurper, 
than  to  suffer  with  an  unprofitable  fidelity  (as  those  meaner  spirits 
called  it)  for  their  lawful  sovereign.  But,  as  I  dare  not  accuse  so 
many  of  our  nobility,  who  were  content  to  accept  their  patrimonies 
from  the  clemency  of  the  conqueror,  and  to  retain  only  a  secret  ven- 
eration for  their  prince,  amidst  the  open  worship  which  they  were 
forced  to  pay  to  the  usurper,  who  had  dethroned  him ;  so,  I  hope,  I 
may  have  leave  to  extol  that  virtue  which  acted  more  generously ;  and 
which  was  not  satisfied  with  an  inward  devotion  to  monarchy,  but  pro- 
duced itself  to  view,  and  asserted  the  cause  by  open  martyrdom.  Of 
these  rare  patterns  of  loyalty,  your  grace  was  chief :  Those  examples 
you  could  not  find,  you  made.  Some  few  Catos  there  were  with  you, 
whose  invincible  resolution  could  not  be  conquered  by  that  usurping 
Caesar.  Your  virtue  opposed  itself  to  his  fortune,  and  overcame  it,  by 
not  submitting  to  it.  The  last  and  most  difficult  enterprise  he  had 
to  effect,  when  he  had  conquered  three  nations,  was  to  subdue  your 
spirit ;  and  he  died  weary  of  that  war,  and  unable  to  finish  it. 

In  the  meantime,  you  lived  more  happily  in  your  exile,  than  the  other 
on  his  throne.  Your  loyalty  made  you  friends  and  servants  amongst 
foreigners;  and  you  lived  plentifully  without  a  fortune;  for  you  lived  on 
your  own  desert  and  reputation.  The  glorious  name  of  the  valiant  and 
faithful  Newcastle  was  a  patrimony  which  could  never  be  exhausted. 

Thus,  my  lord,  the  morning  of  your  life  was  clear  and  calm ;  and 
though  it  was  afterwards  overcast,  yet,  in  that  general  storm,  you 
were  never  without  a  shelter.  And  now  you  are  happily  arrived  to 
the  evening  of  a  day,  as  serene  as  the  dawn  of  it  was  glorious ;  but 
such  an  evening  as,  I  hope,  and  almost  prophesy,  is  far  from  night : 
'T  is  the  evening  of  a  summer's  sun,  which  keeps  the  day-light  long 
within  the  skies. 


154  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

There  is  more  in  the  same  manner,  further  classical  allusions, 
some  flattery  addressed  to  the  Duchess,  with  a  final  word  on 
Newcastle's  patronage  of  former  and  better  poets : 

But,  though  all  of  them  have  surpassed  me  in  the  scene,  there  is  one 
part  of  glory,  in  which  I  will  not  yield  to  any  of  them :  I  mean,  my 
lord,  that  honour  and  veneration  which  they  had  for  you  in  their 
lives ;  and  which  I  preserve  after  them,  more  holily  than  the  vestal 
fires  were  maintained  from  age  to  age ;  but  with  a  greater  degree  of 
heat,  and  of  devotion,  than  theirs,  as  being  with  more  respect  and 
passion  than  they  ever  were. 

Your  Grace's 

Most  obliged,  most  humble, 

and  most  obedient  Servant, 

John  Dryden 

With  such  prose  as  this  for  a  criterion,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
its  author  found  Thomas  Shadwell's  frequent  addresses  to  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  awkward  and  inflated.  Once  he  scathingly 
refers  to  his  enemy  as  *'  the  Northern  dedicator,"  ^  and  again, 
in  the  satiric  lines  of  Flecknoe's  advice  to  his  successor, 
writes  with  utter  contempt :  ^ 

And  when  false  flowers  of  rhetoric  thou  wouldst  cull, 

Trust  nature ;  do  not  labour  to  be  dull. 

But  write  thy  best,  and  top ;  and,  in  each  line. 

Sir  Formal's  ^  oratory  will  be  thine : 

Sir  Formal,  though  unsought,  attends  thy  quill, 

And  does  thy  northern  dedications  fill. 

The  first  of  these  dedications  was  that  to  The  Sullen  Lovers: 
or.  The  Impertinents,  printed  in  1668,  but  Shadwell  had  evi- 
dently received  favors  from  Welbeck  already,  for  after  expa- 
tiating on  Newcastle's  courage  and  wit  he  continues :  ''  Those 
Excellencies,  as  well  as  the  great  Obligations  I  have  had  the 

1  Vindication  of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  Scott- Saintsbury,  VII,  i8o. 

2  Mac-Flecknoe,  lines  165-171.    See  Scott-Saintsbury,  X,  455. 

8  Sir  Formal  Trifle  is  a  florid  and  conceited  orator  in  The  Virtuoso,  by 
Shadwell. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  155 

Honour  to  receive  from  your  Grace,  are  the  Occasion  of  this 
Dedication."  This  experiment  resulted  so  well  for  the  honest 
author  that  in  1671  we  find  him  offering  The  Humourists  to 
the  Duchess : 

The  favourable  Reception,  my  Impertinents  found  from  Your  Excel- 
lent Lord,  and  my  Noble  Patron,  and  the  great  Mercy,  Your  Grace 
has  for  all  Offenders  of  this  kind,  have  made  me  presume  humbly 
to  lay  this  Comedy  at  Your  Feet.  .  .  .  You  have  not  been  content 
only  to  surmount  all  Your  own  Sex  in  the  excellent  Qualities  of  a 
Lady  and  a  Wife ;  but  you  must  overcome  all  ours  in  Wit  and  Under- 
standing. All  our  Sex  have  reason  to  envy  You,  and  Your  own  to  be 
proud  of  You,  which  by  You  have  obtained  an  absolute  Victory  over 
us.  It  were  a  vain  Thing  in  me  to  Endeavour  to  commend  those  ex- 
cellent Pieces  that  have  fallen  from  your  Grace's  Pen,  since  all  the  World 
does.   And  this  is  not  intended  for  a  Panegyrick,  but  a  Dedication. 

Quite  as  obsequious  is  the  address  to  Newcastle  before 
Epsom  Wells,  acted  in  1672  and  printed  the  following  year, 
in  which  he  calls  his  patron  ''the  only  Maecenas  of  our  Age; 
I  am  sure,  the  only  one  I  can  boast  of.  You  are  He,  who  still 
preserves  and  maintains  the  Magnificence  and  Grandeur  of 
our  ancient  Nobility ;  and  being  one  that 's  truly  great  in  Mind 
as  well  as  Fortune,  you  take  Delight  in  rewarding  and  encour- 
aging of  Art  and  Wit :  And  while  others  detract  from  Poetry, 
or  at  least  neglect  it,  your  Grace  not  only  encourages  it  by 
your  great  Example,  but  protects  it  too.  Welbeck  is  indeed 
the  only  Place,  where  the  best  Poets  can  find  a  good  Recep- 
tion." "The  Epistle  Dedicatory"  to  The  Virtuoso  (1676)  is 
largely  a  defense  and  explanation  of  the  Jonsonian  humors 
exemplified  in  that  play:  *'When  I  shew'd  your  Grace  some 
part  of  this  Comedy  at  Welbeck,  being  all  that  I  had  then 
written  of  it,  you  were  pleased  to  express  your  great  liking  for 
it,  which  was  a  sufficient  Encouragement  for  me  to  proceed  in 
it ;  and  when  I  had  finished  it,  to  lay  it  humbly  at  your  Feet." 
These  two  "  sons  of  Ben  "  agreed  so  well  in  literary  matters 


156  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

that  it  is  not  remarkable  they  got  on  admirably  in  more 
personal  ways.  Something  of  their  relationship  is  to  be  dis- 
covered in  "hasty"!  Shadwell's  fifth  and  last  ''northern 
dedication,"  that  to   The  Libertine,  also  of  1676 : 

So  vast  was  your  Bounty  to  me,  as  to  find  me  out  in  my  Obscurity, 
and  oblige  me  several  Years  before  you  saw  me  at  Welbeck ;  where 
(when  I  arrived)  I  found  a  Respect  so  extreamly  above  the  Mean- 
ness of  my  Condition,  that  I  still  received  it  with  Blushes,  having 
nothing  to  recommend  me,  (but  the  Birth  and  Education,  without  the 
Fortune,  of  a  Gentleman)  besides  some  Writings  of  mine,  which  your 
Grace  was  pleased  to  like.  .  .  . 

Then  (by  the  great  Honour  I  had  to  be  so  daily  admitted  into 
your  Grace's  publick  and  private  Conversation,)  I  observed  that  ad- 
mirable Experience  and  Judgment  surmounting  all  the  Old,  and  the 
Vigorousness  of  Wit,  and  Smartness  of  Expression,  exceeding  all  the 
Young  I  ever  knew ;  and  not  only  in  sharp  and  apt  Replies,  the  most 
excellent  Way  of  pursuing  a  Discourse;  but  (which  is  much  more 
difficult)  by  giving  easie  and  unforced  Occasions,  the  most  admirable 
Way  of  beginning  one ;  and  all  this  adapted  to  Men  of  all  Circum- 
stances and  Conditions:  Your  Grace  being  able  to  discourse  with 
every  Man  in  his  own  way  ;  which,  as  it  shews  you  to  be  a  most  accu- 
rate Observer  of  all  Mens  Tempers,  so  it  shews  your  Excellency  in 
all  their  Arts.  But  when  I  had  the  Favour  daily  to  be  admitted  at  your 
Grace's  more  retir'd  Conversation,  when  I  alone  enjoyed  the  Honour, 
I  must  declare,  I  never  spent  my  Hours  with  that  Pleasure  or  Improve- 
ment ;  nor  shall  I  ever  enough  acknowledge  that,  and  the  rest  of  the 
Honours  done  me  by  your  Grace,  as  much  above  my  Condition 
as  my  Merit. 

A  year  or  two  before  these  last  dedications,  which  imme- 
diately preceded  Newcastle's  death,  the  Duke  brought  out  his 
last  drama.  The  Triumphant  Widow,  or  the  Medley  of 
Humours^  but  not  without  marked  aid  from  his  latest  proteg6. 
Langbaine^  puts  the  shoe  on  the  other  foot  and  accepts  facts 

1  The  epithet  is  Rochester's.  See  An  Allusion  to  the  Tenth  Satire  of  the 
First  Book  of  Horace,  line  43. 

2  This  play  was,  like  The  Humorous  Lovers,  published  in  1677. 
8  P.  387. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  1 57 

at  their  face  value,  when  he  writes :  "  This  was  thought  so 
excellent  a  Play  by  our  present  Laureat  [i.e.  Shadwell],  that  he 
has  transcrib'd  a  great  deal  of  it  in  his  Bury  Fair.''  There  can 
be  no  doubt  of  that,  for  Sir  John  Noddy,  *'an  arch  wag,  a 
coxcomb  full  of  monkey-tricks,"  ^  is  taken  over  exactly  in  Sir 
Humphry  of  the  same  name.  Many  of  their  practical  jokes  are 
identical,  as  the  striking  away  a  cane  upon  which  some  one 
is  leaning,^  the  pushing  another  gentleman  into  a  *'  plash"  of 
water,^  and  tying  an  unsuspecting  victim  to  his  chair  or  to  a 
companion.*  Then  there  is  the  word-play  on  rabbit  (raw-bit !), 
goose,  and  woodcock,  with  the  dinner  story  of  a  doctor  of 
divinity,  whose  wife  used  to  entertain  him  with  three  dishes 
every  day,  "bitter,  pout,  and  tart."  The  effect  of  telling  this 
tale  was  to  make  the  ladies  ''  tihee  "  under  their  napkins,  and 
the  te-hee  catching  one  old  lady  as  she  was  drinking,  "  she 
squirted  the  beer  out  of  her  nose,  as  an  Indian  does  tobacco."^ 
Both  the  Noddies  become  embroiled  in  comic  duels  as  well, 
so  that  it  is  quite  evident  that  this  portion  of  Bury  Fair 
came  straight  from  The  Triumphant  Widow.  But  there 
are  other  considerations. 

Each  play  has  a  number  of  incidents  which  do  not  appear 
in  the  other,  although  all  seem  much  of  a  piece.  In  New- 
castle's comedy  Sir  John  pulls  off  the  Justice's  periwig,^  pushes 
down  a  servant  carrying  dishes,*^  and  narrates  how  he  made 
some  other  man  sit  on  a  hot  stone ;  ^  the  additional  puns  are 
upon  "  plaice,"  "  owl,"  "  gull,"  ''  about  "  (a  bout),  and  on  cheese, 
not  from  Cheshire,  but  Windsor,  **  because  it  is  near  Eaton."  ^ 
Bury  Fair  shows  us  Sir  Humphry  tweaking  the  pseudo  Count's 

^  Dramatis  Personae. 

2  Triumphant  Widow,  Act  II ;  and  Bury  Fair,  Act  III. 

*  Triumphant  Widow,  Act  I. 

*  Triumphant  Widow,  Act  V ;  and  Bury  Fair,  Act  I. 

5  Triumphant  Widow,  Act  III ;  and  Bury  Fair,  Act  III. 
«  Act  II.  7  Act  III.  8  Act  II.  »  Act  III. 


158  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

nose,^  cudgelling  the  impostor,^  and  pluming  himself  on  having 
*'  twirled  another  fellow's  hat  over  a  little  river,  that  was  not 
navigable ;  and  he  was  forced  to  go  a  mile  about  to  fetch  it."  ^ 
The  comic  dialogue  turns  on  a  wainscot's  being  weak  because 
"the  weakest  goes  to  the  wall,"  a  window  mutinous  "for  'tis 
full  of  quarrels,"  a  looking-glass  ill-natured  "because  it  makes 
reflections,"  and  a  day  scabby  "because  the  sun's  broken 
out."^  Such  humor  is  of  a  very  low  order,  but  it  runs  in 
much  the  same  vein  throughout  and  appears  indisputably  to 
be  the  work  of  a  single  hand.  When  one  remembers  that 
Bury  Fair  was  not  brought  upon  the  stage  until  1689,  thir- 
teen years  after  Newcastle's  death,  that  nowhere  in  the  Duke's 
other  writings  is  there  this  strong  tendency  towards  knock- 
about farce,  and  that  at  the  time  of  The  Triumphant  Widow  s 
production  the  nobleman  had  Shadwell  for  an  intimate  depend- 
ent. Firth's  conclusion  that  the  real  author  of  this  portion 
of  the  play  "was  only  reclaiming  his  own  property"^  be- 
comes very  nearly  a  certainty.  That,  too,  is  quite  in  accord 
with  Newcastle's  habit  of  engaging  silent  partners  in  his 
dramatic  labors. 

What  share  each  playwright  had  in  the  remainder  of  the 
piece  is  not  so  easy  to  determine.  The  low-life  scenes  among 
assorted  servants,  one  of  them  a  military  cook,^  may  be  attrib- 
uted to  the  Duke,  if  only  for  their  similarity  to  his  portion 
of  The  Lady  Contemplation.  In  this  work  by  the  Duchess, 
Newcastle  furnishes  the  encounters  between  Mall  Mean-bred 
and  various  gentlemen  from  town,"^  who  promise  more  than 
they  are  willing  to  perform.  She  later  berates  Sir  Golden 
Riches  after  this  fashion :  ^ 

1  Act  III.  *  Act  III. 

*  Act  IV.  6  Firth,  Introduction,  p.  xix. 

8  Act  I.  «  Pp.  27,  46-48. 

'  Part  I,  Scenes  xvii,  xx,  xxiv,  and  Part  II,  Scenes  xxv,  xxxv. 

8  Playes,  1662,  pp.  245-246. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  1 59 

As  I  am  a  true  woman  which  he  knows  I  am,  I  never  had  more 
than  this  white  fustion  wastecoat  and  three  pence  to  buy  me  three 
pennyworth  of  pins,  for  he  would  allow  me  no  incle  to  tie  it  withal, 
and  this  old  stamel  petticoat,  that  was  his  great  Grandmother's  in 
Eighty  eight  .  .  .  and  the  garters  he  talks  of  were  lists  of  cloth, 
which  a  Taylor  gave  me  for  my  New-years-gift. 

Certainly  this  is  in  the  same  manner  as  Gervas's  gift  to  Cicely 
in  The  Triumphant  Widow  of^  "a  white  Fustian  Wastcoat, 
and  a  brave  Stamel  Petticoat  regarded  with  black  Velvet "  or 
the  billingsgate  between  James  and  Margery,  in  which  he 
describes  her  mother 2  "with  a  Petticoat  of  more  patches  than 
one  can  number,  indented  at  the  bottom  and  so  short,  I  saw 
up  to  her  old  cruel  Garters  with  her  stockings  of  three  colours, 
three  stories  high,  with  Incle  about  her  Hat,  knitting  at  the 
Gate  for  an  Alms."  Lady  Haughty,  the  widow,  seems  to  owe 
something  to  Newcastle's  influence  also,  for,  although  a  lady 
courted  by  many  suitors  is  not  a  distinctive  creation,  it  is 
unusual  for  her  to  accept  none  of  them  in  the  end  and  to  con- 
tinue "triumphant."  Yet  this  was  an  ideal  very  common  in 
the  Duchess's  theoretical  plays,  which  her  husband  may  well 
have  taken  over  for  actual  stage  presentation.^  Its  originality 
will  not  carry  alone,  and  a  complete  lack  of  psychological 
analysis  leaves  the  main  plot  very  dull  indeed. 

Of  Lady  Haughty's  admirers,  foolish  Justice  Spoilwit  and 
Colonel  Bounce  have  little  individuality,  the  Colonel's  raison 
d'etre  being  chiefly  to  furnish  a  mate  for  Isabella,  the  widow's 
witty  kinswoman.  We  have  already  seen  that  Sir  John  Noddy 
is  a  creation  of  Shadwell's,  but  his  tricked  marriage  to  the 
maid  Nan  in  Act  V  is  the  old  device  of  which  Newcastle 
appears  to  have  been  so  fond  that  he  introduces  it  at  least 
once  into  each  of  his  dramas.    This  time  the  victim  is  told  he 

1  Act  I,  p.  4-  ^  Act  IV,  p.  64. 

•  Compare  also  Lady  Haughty's  objections  to  her  suitors,  pp.  8-1 2,  with  the 
refusal  of  various  wooers  in  the  Duchess's  Publick  Wooing  {Playes,  1662). 


i6o  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

should  be  satisfied,  for  **her  father  was  a  Gentleman,  your's 
an  Ironmonger  at  London  ;  her's  was  ruin'd  by  Loyalty,  as 
your's  was  raised  by  Rebellion."  A  similar  Cavalier  ring  is 
found  in  a  wooing  song  of  Noddy's,  which  the  Duke  probably 
inserted,  though  it  is  not  probable  that  he  composed  it : 

/  I  dote,  I  dote,  but  am  a  Sot  to  show  it, 

I  was  a  very  Fool  to  let  her  know  it, 
For  now  she  doth  so  cunning  grow, 
She  proves  a  friend  worse  than  a  foe. 
She  '1  neither  hold  me  fast  nor  let  me  go ; 
She  tells  me  I  cannot  forsake  her. 
When  straight  I  endeavour  to  leave  her, 

She  to  make  me  stay 

Throws  a  kiss  in  my  way : 
O  then  I  could  tarry  for  ever. 
But  good  Madam  Fickle  be  faithful, 
And  leave  off  your  damnable  dodging, 

Either  love  me  or  leave  me. 

And  do  not  deceive  me. 
But  let  me  go  home  to  my  Lodging. 

The  first  ten  lines  had  appeared  as  the  first  stanza  of  an 
anonymous  song,  The  Drunken  Lover.  J.  D.  Delight,  in  Wit 
Res  tor  dy  1658,  while  the  last  five  occur  in  its  seventh  stanza.^ 
The  Bag  ford  Ballads'^  attributes  this  entire  performance  to 
Newcastle,  but  it  is  more  likely  that  he  already  knew  the 
longer  version  and  made  use  of  certain  snatches  from  it. 
Such  slight  differences  as  do  exist  in  the  two  forms  would 
be  almost  inevitable  after  oral  transmission  had  taken  place, 
and  The  Drunken  Lover  was  in  existence  fifteen  years  before 
The  Triumphant  Widow. 

The  most  striking  character  in  this  play  is  Footpad,  a  rogue, 
whose  song  on  his  first  appearance  sounds  the  keynote  of  his 
personality :  ^ 

1  Pp.  165-168. 

2  II,  514-515.  It  is  reprinted  here,  and  the  various  other  appearances  of 
it  noted ;  the  tide  is  given  as  "  The  Lover's  Mad  Fits."  *  P.  3. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS"  i6l 

Since  c'ry  Profession 's  become  a  lewd  Cheat, 

And  the  littie,  like  fish,  are  devour'd  by  the  great ; 

Since  all  Mankind  use  to  rob  one  another ; 

Since  the  Son  robs  the  Father,  the  Brother,  the  Brother ; 

Since  all  sorts  of  men  such  Villains  will  be 

When  all  the  world  plays  the  Rogue,  why  should  not  we? 

We  see  him  thereafter  as  a  peddler  singing  hke  Autolycus, 
"  Come  Maids,  what  is  it  that  you  lack  ?  "  ^  as  a  fortune-telling 
and  pocket-picking  gypsy,^  as  a  fiddler,^  and  finally  as  a 
crippled  beggar.**  His  clever  attempts  to  escape  detection  are 
successful  in  arousing  the  reader's  sluggish  interest,  while 
his  ultimate  capture  seems  thrilling  in  comparison  with  the 
greater  part  of  this  comedy.  The  lucky  Constable  with  his 
"  Mr.  Matthew  Mattical "  and  '*  Geogrecum  "  learning  adds 
not  a  little  to  a  scene,  which  ends  almost  climactically  with 
Footpad's  line,  **  I  have  had  a  merry  life,  though  a  short  one." 
In  the  last  act  he  is  brought  to  the  gallows  amidst  a  question- 
ing, babbling  populace,  so  vividly  depicted  that  perhaps  the 
author  drew  it  from  life.  The  realism  in  this  scene  resembles 
that  employed  upon  the  three  pairs  of  servants,  and  these 
passages  may  all  be  the  work  of  Newcastle,  —  that  is  the 
only  hope  for  the  Duke's  artistic  reputation  as  a  dramatist. 
Footpad  makes  a  speech  to  the  people,  saying  he  is  a  me- 
mento mori  to  them  and  admitting  quite  candidly  his  regret 
that  he  cannot  escape.  His  reprieve  comes  just  in  the  nick  of 
time,  and,  though  the  assembled  throng  feels  cheated  of  its 
legitimate  pleasure,  the  audience  is  completely  reconciled  to 
a  pardon  for  this  fascinating  but  unprincipled  rascal. 

It  remains  to  consider  two  other  characters,  Codshead,  ''a 
coxcomb,"  and  his  friend  Crambo,  *'an  heroick  poet,"  whose 
humors  have  their  place  in  the  medley.    With  them  we  come 

1  Act  I.  8  Act  III. 

2  Act  II.  *  Act  IV. 


1 62  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

upon  further  unmistakable  traces  of  Shadwell,  and  this  time 
Og  is  revealed  by  no  less  a  person  than  Doeg,  his  companion 
in  infamy.  It  seems  strange  that  Elkanah  Settle,  who  in  1682 
was  to  be  pilloried  with  Shadwell  by  the  arch-satirist  Dryden, 
should  in  1675  have  been  an  object  of  their  joint  animosity. 
The  main  facts  about  the  case  are  as  follows  :  ^  In  1673  young 
Settle's  popular  play  The  Empress  of  Morocco  was  published, 
with  a  sneering  reference  to  the  failure  of  Dryden's  Assigna- 
tion ;  the  following  year  this  provoked  a  reply  entitled  Notes 
a7id  Observations  on  the  Empress  of  Morocco.  Shadwell  and 
Crowne  assisted  Dryden  with  the  pamphlet,  and  in  their  turn 
were  mentioned  in  Settle's  answering  defense.  Shadwell,  to 
whom  were  ascribed  many  of  the  strictures  on  the  fourth  act, 
was  let  off  very  easily  as,^  "The  Authour  of  Epsom-Wells ^ 
that  has  Wit  if  he  can  keep  it."  Nevertheless  Og's  enmity 
seems  rather  increased  than  diminished  thereafter,  for  soon 
Settle  complains  after  this  fashion  :  ^ 

And  yet  so  much  Civility  had  only  this  effect  upon  him,  Having  a 
Play,  call'd  the  Triumphant  Widow,  given  him  to  bring  into  the 
Duke's  Play-house,  he  spitefully  foists  in  a  Scene  of  his  own  into  the 
Play,  and  makes  a  silly  Heroick  Poet  in  it,  speak  the  very  words  he 
had  heard  me  say,  and  made  reflexions  on  some  of  the  very  Lines 
he  had  so  sencelessly  prated  on  before  in  his  Notes.  And  the  reason 
he  gives  for  this  scurrilous  Language  in  his  Preface  to  the  Libertine, 
was,  that  I  had  abused  him  in  a  Postscript  to  Love  and  Revenge, 
which  if  I  had  done,  had  been  but  just  after  his  ill  usage  in  that 
Triumphant  Widow. 

Love  and  Revenge  was  printed  in  1675  with  the  malicious 
postscript,  which  does  not  appear  in  the  1674  manuscript  ver- 
sion.^ This  reference,  then,  firmly  dates  Newcastle's  play  and 
as  surely  proves  that  Shadwell  had  a  hand  in  its  composition. 

1  F.  C.  Brown's  Elkanah  Settle,  His  Life  and  Works,  pp.  50-61. 

2  "  The  Preface  to  the  Reader,"  prefixed  to  Ibrahim,  the  Illustrious  Bassa. 
8  Ibid.  *  Harleian  Ms.  6goj.    See  Brown,  p.  60. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  163 

Specific  citations  from  The  Empress  of  Morocco  do  not, 
however,  occur  in  the  pubhshed  version  of  the  Duke's  comedy, 
possibly  because  discretion  prevented  a  printed  Hbel  when 
the  spoken  word  had  been  found  to  give  offense.  Nor  can  we 
identify  Settle's  "  very  words,"  if  indeed  the  interpolated  scene 
be  present  in  any  form.  Yet  Crambo's  entire  character  sug- 
gests satire  at  once,  so  that  with  a  hint  such  as  "  heroically 
mad  "  1  Elkanah  gives  us,  he  is  himself  revealed  as  the  object 
of  this  ridicule.  The  absurdities  inherent  in  an  abstract  heroic 
poet  necessarily  react  upon  the  most  prominent  of  that  genus, 
and  Shadwell's  hostility  towards  Settle  has  already  been  noticed. 
Despite  a  lack  of  particular  evidence,  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  Crambo-Codshead  portion  of  The  Triumphant  Widow 
is  only  one  more  attack  made  by  the  future  laureate  upon 
his  unfortunate  enemy.  Crambo  rails  against  dull  or  common 
similes,  against  oaths,  curses,  and  petty  affectations,^  but  he  is 
easily  put  to  confusion  by  his  inamorata,  the  witty  Isabella.^ 
The  poet  says  that  when  his  lady  came  out  of  doors,  '*the 
Garden  smiled,  and  put  on  a  fresh  Verdure,"  whereupon  she 
tries  to  disconcert  him  by  replying,  '*  It  seems  the  Garden  is 
merrily  disposed."  He  is  so  stupid  that  he  cannot  make  one 
quibble  when  all  the  others  are  punning  rhadly,^  and  he  steals 
with  avidity  Codshead's  similes  ^  that  breath  is  like  a  heavenly 
dew  and  teeth  like  ''  Oriental  Pearls,  or  Twin  Lambs  newly 
shorn."  The  heroic  tendency  towards  rhetorical  questions  and 
elaborately  costumed  dances  is  burlesqued,^  and  Crambo  sets 
forth  a  translation  which  was  to  do  duty  again  in  Bury  Fair? 

The  Latin  ^ 

Mittitur  in  disco  mihi  piscis  ab  Archiepisco  — 
Po  non  ponatur,  quia  potus  non  mihi  datur 

^  Absalom  and  Achitophel.,  Part  II,  line  417.  ^  P.  44. 

2  Act  I.  8  Act  V. 

*  Pp.  22-23.  '  -^ct  I. 

*  Pp.  37-38.  8  P.  82. 


1 64  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

is  notably  rendered 

Here  in  a  Dish 

Is  sent  me  some  fish 

By  the  Archbish, 

Hop  was  not  there, 

Because  he  sent  me  no  Beer. 

The  poet  also  writes  a  scene  ^  with  which  his  friend  Cods- 
head  is  to  woo  the  Widow,  composing  both  the  suitor's  pro- 
testations and  the  lady's  answers.  But  after  she  is  compared 
to  a  lily,  instead  of  replying, 

Your  Phrases  make  my  modesty  to  blush, 

her  prosaic  remark  is,  *'  Methinks  I  do  not  look  so  very  pale 
as  a  Lily,  though  I  confess  I  am  very  pale."  Consequently 
the  following  lines  beginning. 

Then  you  appear  Hke  the  new  budded  Rose, 

fall  rather  flat,  and  afterwards  matters  go  from  bad  to  worse. 
When,  about  this  time.  Crambo  is  taken  sick  because  of  his 
fustian  and  heroic  couplets,  the  Doctor  is  at  a  loss  how  to 
cure  him .2  Various  ancients  and  moderns  are  proposed  as 
remedies,  but  Shakespeare  has  too  much  wit,  while  ''  Fletcher 
and  Beaumont  have  so  much  of  the  Spanish  Perfume  of 
Romances  and  Novels."^  As  was  unavoidable  in  a  play  by 
two  loyal  sons  of  Ben,  Jonson's  works  finally  perform  the 
miracle,  for  although  Crambo  reviles  that  author  as  dull  and 
without  wit,  *'  he  was  the  Honour  of  his  Nation,  and  the  Poet 
of  Poets."  ^  The  Doctor's  charm,  which  aids  in  effecting  the 
recovery,  hints  again  at  plagiarism  and  has  a  word  or  two  in 
definition  of  the  true  poet  that  are  not  without  their  significant 
relation  to  Newcastle's  own  life :  ^ 

1  Pp.  61-63.  3  p.  60.  5  P.  72. 

2  Pp.  59-61.  4  p.  61. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS  "  165 

Ye  Gods  this  Poet  now  restore, 

Or  else  he  never  will  write  more ; 

Him  with  Poetick  flames  inspire, 

And  give  him  a  Celestial  fire, 

Give  him  fresh  Fancies,  new,  unknown, 

Ne're  let  him  write  but  what 's  his  own. 

A  Poet  is  not  made,  but  born, 
All  helps  of  reading  he  should  scorn, 
Ne're  vexes  Authors,  but  will  look 
On  the  whole  World,  that  is  his  Book. 
Let  him  not  here  languishing  lye. 
Restore  him  now,  or  let  him  dye. 

Cavendish  certainly  never  troubled  books,  but  neither  unfortu- 
nately was  he  bom  with  a  poetical  genius.  Nor  does  his  work- 
manship on  The  Triumphant  Widow  demand  any  important 
place  for  him  in  the  memory  of  after  ages. 

The  Duke's  share  in  the  quarrel  between  Shadwell  and 
Settle  did  not  terminate  with  the  production  of  his  play.  In 
1675,  as  we  have  seen,  Elkanah  brought  out  the  tragedy  of 
Love  and  Revenge,  adding  a  violent  postscript  to  attack  his 
enemy  and  dedicating  the  whole  to  Newcastle : 

That  so  worthless  a  Present  to  so  Eminent  a  Person,  is  a  piece  of 
Arrogance,  I  am  as  Conscious  as  I  am  that  your  Grace  has  Goodness 
to  Pardon  it ;  for  if  sins  of  Presumption  could  not  be  forgiven,  the 
punishment  of  offences  would  put  a  restraint  on  Virtue,  and  make 
Mercy  one  of  the  noblest  Ornaments  of  Greatness  a  Stranger  to  it; 
and  at  that  rate  a  Patron  would  be  as  confined  as  a  Judge,  who  at  the 
same  time  he  is  a  Kings  Representative  and  presides  over  Justice,  is 
a  Slave  to  it ;  whilst  his  Sentence  is  but  the  voyce  of  Law,  &  his 
Favour  or  Cruelty  not  voluntary,  but  prescribed. 

The  stock  adulation  here  offered  is  almost  identical  with  that 
Brome  prefixed  to  his  Sparagtis  Garden,  but  in  spirit  these 
two  dedications  are  as  far  apart  as  the  poles.  Brome,  who  had 
already  obtained  favor,  is  almost  jocular  in  tone ;  Settle,  a  man 
of  another  sort,  humbly  fawns  for  the  bone  that  has  not  yet 


1 66  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

been  cast  to  him.  The  chances  are  that  he  ultimately  received 
it,  although  the  Duke  was  by  this  time  on  intimate  terms  with 
Shadwell.  That  author,  it  will  be  remembered,  offered  two 
plays  to  his  patron  during  the  next  year  and  prefixed  to  one, 
The  Libertine,  still  further  abuse  aimed  at  Settle.  Newcastle, 
however,  was  of  an  easy-going  disposition  and  he  may  have 
tried  to  ride  both  horses  at  once ;  besides,  he  was  an  old  man 
now,  caring  little  for  the  fiery  disputes  of  youth.  At  any  rate, 
when  Ibrahim  was  published  in  1676  and  Settle  took  a  final 
fling  at  his  enemy,  he  deposed  that  ''he  [Shadwell]  has  not 
laboured  only  to  blast  my  Plays,  but  made  it  his  study  by  all 
interest  and  subtilty,  with  all  the  scandalous  Aspersions  he 
could  invent  to  ruine  me  in  the  esteem  of  that  Honourable 
Family,  whose  smiles,  though  with  more  zeal  than  Merit,  above 
all  my  other  interest  in  the  World  I  study  to  preserve.  Yet 
methinks  he  might  have  had  so  much  Wit  in  his  anger,  or  at 
least  as  much  good  Manners,  as  not  to  have  thought  so  meanly 
of  Persons  of  such  Worth  and  Honour  as  to  imagine  their 
Favours  could  be  alienated  by  Malice  or  their  Judgements 
byass'd  by  Villany."i  The  ''Honourable  Family"  was  presum- 
ably the  Cavendishes,  who  in  the  person  of  Newcastle  must 
have  shown  continued  impartiality  to  both  contestants. 

On  Christmas  Day  of  the  same  year,  1676,  the  Loyal 
Duke's  long  life  came  to  an  end  amid  these  petty  bickerings 
of  Restoration  poetasters.  He  whose  literary  associations  had 
begun  with  the  towering  personality  of  father  Ben  had  lived 
to  witness  momentous  changes  in  England's  artistic  atmos- 
phere. He  had  seen  the  philosophy  of  Hobbes  form,  expand, 
and  fall  away,  until  the  stage  was  nearly  set  for  the  appear- 
ance of  John  Locke.  He  had  seen  the  portraits  of  Van  Dyck 
give  place  to  Sir  Peter  Lely's  artful  imitations  of  them.  He 
had  seen  the  long  rich  stream  of  Elizabethan  drama  reach  its 

1  Preface  to  Ibrahim, 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^XENAS"  167 

end  in  Ford,  Shirley,  and  Brome,  and  the  rise  of  a  new  order 
in  the  work  of  Davenant  and  Shadwell,  Settle  and  Dryden. 
He  had  known  the  lyrics  of  Suckling  and  Waller ;  he  had  been 
cosmopolitan  enough  to  patronize  the  foreign  men  of  science, 
Descartes  and  Gassendi.  To  each  he  offered  the  hand  of 
friendship  and  assistance ;  each  voices  grateful  affection  for 
their  common  patron.  If  Newcastle  was  not  deep  or  strong 
in  character,  he  was  broad  and  catholic  in  his  interests,  and 
that  basically  explains  his  position  in  history.  He  was  not  a 
great  general,  but  he  was  a  noble  gentleman ;  and  he  truly  appre- 
ciated the  fine  arts,  if  he  was  too  weak  to  be  a  creator  in  them. 
He  was  too  sincere  to  be  called  a  dilettante,  too  superficial  to 
make  an  imprint  on  his  age,  but  too  influential  to  be  com- 
pletely forgotten.  He  is  remembered  not  for  what  he  did 
himself,  but  for  his  association  with  the  lives  of  others. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that,  in  his  position  as  Maecenas, 
Newcastle  tried  his  own  hand  at  literature  of  many  kinds,  nor 
that  in  the  drama  he  collaborated  with  his  proteges,  Shirley, 
Dryden,  and  Shadwell.  When  the  work  of  these  men  is  dis- 
counted, very  little  remains  to  the  Duke's  credit ;  a  complete 
lack  of  sense  for  situation  and  dialogue,  a  palpable  ignorance 
of  his  audience,  and  a  smug  self-satisfaction  are  the  most 
striking  features.  He  begins  his  career  with  the  ultra-didactic 
attitude  of  Ben  Jonson,  at  the  same  time  often  deliberately 
pandering  to  his  public.  This  is  a  course  frequently  adopted 
by  professed  moralists,  who  must  lure  an  audience  to  their 
plays  before  it  is  worth  while  to  commence  a  sermon.  The 
extreme  view  of  popularized  drama  is  stated  in  an  Epilogue 
to   The  Triumphant   Widow : 

'T  is  not  the  Poet  with  celestial  fire, 
Nor  all  the  Muses  that  can  him  inspire 
To  write  well,  't  is  in  you  the  power  is  had, 
'T  is  as  you  make  it  either  good  or  bad. 


1 68  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

But  the  author  who  follows  Horace's  advice  and  ''  miscuit  utile 
dulci "  ^  is  likely  to  find,  unless  he  be  as  uncompromisingly 
ethical  as  Jonson,  that  the  pleasant  soon  drives  out  the  greater 
part  of  the  useful  —  at  least  that  was  the  case  in  Restoration 
drama,  and  Newcastle  seems  to  have  proved  no  exception  to 
the  rule.  For  him,  however,  catering  to  the  public  taste  brought 
little  popularity  in  his  own  time,  while  it  must  serve  now  to 
heap  further  critical  opprobrium  upon  him. 

Yet  Cavendish  had  a  certain  skill  in  realistically  picturing 
such  scenes  as  he  saw  among  the  common  people,  whether  it 
were  his  own  servants  or  the  country  folk  dwelling  near  at  hand. 
Combined  with  that  aptitude  was  a  more  or  less  uneven  lyric 
gift,  which  he  shared  with  many  of  his  contemporaries.  Some- 
times he  produced  as  fine  a  piece  as  the  serenade  in  The 
Variety^  again  his  muse  brought  forth  the  unpublished  dog- 
gerel cited  by  Mr.  Strong.  In  sum  and  substance  Newcastle's 
specifically  literary  accomplishments  amounted  to  little,  and 
one  can  understand  how  the  author  of  The  Session  of  the 
Poets  2  made  him  base  his  claim  to  eminence  on  the  Duchess's 
writings.  Rochester,  if  it  was  he,  coarsely  writes  to  the  tune 
of  Cock  Laurel :  ^ 

Newcastle  and 's  Horse  for  entrance  next  strives, 

Well  stuff'd  was  his  Cloakbag,  &  so  was  his  Breeches. 

And  unbutt'ning  the  place  where  Nature's  Posset-maker  Uves, 
Pulled  out  his  Wife's  Poems,  Plays,  Essays  &  Speeches. 

Whoop,  quoth  Apollo,  what  a  Devil  have  we  here, 

Put  up  thy  Wife's  Trumpery,  good  noble  Marquiss, 

And  home  again,  home  again,  take  thy  Career, 

To  provide  her  fresh  Straw,  and  a  Chamber  that  dark  is. 

In  less  professedly  artistic  ways  Newcastle  accomplished  far 
more.  His  books  on  horsemanship  have  gained  their  place 
among  our  standard  works,  but  his  political  writings  are  too 

1  Ars  Poetica,  line  343.       *  Poems  on  Affairs  of  State,  I,  206-211.       »  P.  209. 


"OUR  ENGLISH  M^CENAS"  169 

slightly  known.  Numerous  proclamations  and  dispatches,  the 
letter  of  advice  to  Prince  Charles,  and  above  all  the  *'  Little 
Book  "  deserve  a  wider,  more  general  reputation.  Many  of  the 
Duke's  ideas  on  government  are  to  be  found  in  the  last  part 
of  the  Life,  but  to  get  a  full  and  final  statement  of  them  one 
must  study  his  address  to  the  King.  It  has  already  been  sug- 
gested that  this  document  is  a  masterpiece  in  little,  a  clean- 
cut  if  roughly  formed  work  of  the  utmost  importance  to  phi- 
losophers, to  historians,  or  to  artists.  For  a  man  who  tries  to 
combine  the  functions  of  all  three  and  would  worm  himself 
close  to  the  life  of  a  bygone  day,  who  would  strive  to  obtain 
a  cross-section  view  of  seventeenth-century  England,  to  feel  its 
pulsing  vitality  surge  now  as  it  did  three  hundred  years  ago, 
Newcastle's  manuscript  is  invaluable.  It  takes  hold  of  things 
at  their  roots,  and  whereas  more  imaginative  forms  of  literature 
may  reveal  a  nation's  manners,  morals,  and  general  atmosphere 
with  greater  beauty  or  more  skill,  this  little  treatise,  in  criti- 
cizing past  history,  interprets  present  conditions  from  that 
economic  standpoint  which  is  at  the  basis  of  all  human 
society.  Nor  can  the  hand  of  an  art-lover  be  concealed  in  its 
workmanship,  where  proportion,  balance,  and  specific  incident 
usurp  the  place  of  the  scientist's  dry  statistics.  Newcastle  has 
small  right  to  literary  fame,  but  his  ''  Little  Book  "  assures 
him  of  one  permanent  memorial. 

Not,  however,  as  a  creator  but  as  a  patron  is  the  Duke 
chiefly  important.  The  length  and  breadth  of  his  career  have 
been  sufficiently  discussed  to  prove  Langbaine's  comparison  of 
him  to  Maecenas  not  absurd.  Like  the  Roman,  Newcastle 
was  actively  interested  in  affairs  of  state ;  like  him  he  wrote 
vdth  rather  poor  success,  while  like  him  his  main  function 
was  to  assist  and  stimulate  more  talented  artists.  Both  men 
were  absolutely  sincere,  which  explains  the  great  affection 
each  kindled  among  his  followers,  since  it  is  not  easy  to  care 


I/O  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

for  one's  condescending  benefactor.  Maecenas  had  the  more 
definite  ideal,  for  to  him  Hterature  must  be  used  to  upbuild  the 
government  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  Newcastle  had  any  such 
ulterior  motive.  He  assisted  artists  because  he  was  genuinely 
interested  in  them  and  their  work;  giving  such  assistance  was 
one  of  the  unnecessary  pleasures  as  essential  to  him  as  life 
itself.  But  in  gathering  about  him  these  authors  the  Duke 
produced  a  larger  effect  than  he  dreamed  of ;  in  fact  he  was 
exerting  a  decided  influence  upon  the  rising  tide  of  patronage. 
In  the  Elizabethan  days,  to  be  sure,  there  had  been  noblemen 
interested  in  letters :  the  Earl  of  Leicester,  who  befriended 
Spenser  and  Ascham ;  the  Earl  of  Southampton,  eternally 
immortalized  by  his  connection  with  Shakespeare ;  Sir  Philip 
Sidney;  and  William  Herbert,  Earl  of  Pembroke.  These, 
however,  were  rather  the  exception  than  the  rule,  so  that  the 
supply  was  greatly  surpassed  by  the  ever-increasing  demand 
made  by  professional  writers  under  the  Renaissance  revival.^ 
It  was  not  until  the  seventeenth  century  that  almost  every 
courtier  came  to  have  his  proteges.  Then  there  set  in  that 
leech-like  condition  of  successful  authorship,  which  Swift  ridi- 
culed so  keenly  in  1704  when  he  dedicated  The  Tale  of  a 
Tub  to  ''His  Royal  Highness,  Prince  Posterity,"  but  which 
was  to  continue  until  Dr.  Johnson  sounded  its  death  knell  by 
his  letter  to  Lord  Chesterfield  in  1755.  Among  the  men 
responsible  for  the  rapid  growth  of  this  system  none  was  more 
influential  than  Newcastle.  His  connection  with  the  artistic 
world,  extending  from  16 17  to  1676,  roughly  sixty  years,  his 
position  in  politics  and  his  inclination,  all  helped  to  make  him 
a  vital  factor  in  shaping  the  course  of  English  literary  history. 
His  influence  may  not  have  been  an  elevating  one,  yet  he  is  a 
figure  to  be  reckoned  with,  a  moving  force  in  the  literature 
of  his  day  and  generation. 

1  Phoebe  Sheavyn  in  The  Literary  Profession  in  the  Elizabethan  Age,  pp.  9-38. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  MINOR  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS 

I 

POEMS  AND  PSEUDO-SCIENCE  (1653-1668) 

The  Duke  of  Newcastle's  importance  in  literary  history  is, 
as  we  have  seen,  not  dependent  on  his  original  productions, 
but  the  Duchess  gains  her  importance  chiefly  by  virtue  of  the 
books  she  wrote.  Their  value,  however,  does  not  consist  in 
form  or  contents,  but  in  the  mere  fact  that  they  exist.  Easily 
the  best  is  her  Life  of  William  Cavendishe,  which  has  already 
been  sufficiently  discussed  to  show  that,  in  spite  of  a  vivid  fic- 
tional tendency,  its  success  is  largely  fortuitous,  its  scheme  es- 
sentially haphazard.  What  then  shall  be  said  for  the  Duchess's 
other  works  }  Plays,  poems,  scientific  treatises,  letters,  orations, 
fantasies,  they  present  a  bewildering  array  of  documents,  as 
extended  as  it  is  various. ^  When  the  numerous  volumes  con- 
taining them  have  been  read  and  thoroughly  digested,  it  must 
be  admitted  that  little  of  permanent  interest  is  to  be  found 
there.  Yet  one  needs  to  remember  that  masterpieces  have 
seldom  been  produced  by  a  pioneer  and  that  Margaret  Caven-  j^ 

dish  was  one  of  the  first  English  women  seriously  to  under-    /  t^     a 
take  written  composition.    Until  the  seventeenth  century  had 
run  half  its  course,  an  authoress   in  print  was  a  practically   \  ' 
unknown  phenomenon,  although  between  1650  and  1700  more 

^  John  Nichols  in  the  notes  to  his  Select  Collection  of  Poems,  1780-1782,  "^ 
Vol.  IV,  p.  353,  says  that  the  manuscripts  of  the  Duchess  were  given  to  her 
husband's  college  (St.  John's,  Cambridge),  where  they  were  to  be  found  in 
good  order. 

171 


1/2  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

than  one  talented  woman  entered  the  profession  of  Uterature. 
Mrs.  Aphra  Behn  and  "  the  matchless  Orinda  "  share  with  the 
Duchess  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  of  their  sex  to  attract 
notice  by  published  works.  Each  of  the  three  had  a  distinct 
and  sharply  defined  personality,  each  came  to  her  career  by  a 
different  approach,  but  all  together  mark  a  common  tendency, 
the  growing  importance  of  women  and  specifically  their  entrance 
into  the  world  of  letters. 

The  development  of  this  tendency,  whether  consciously 
or  not,  was  largely  through  French  influence,  to  which  the 
Duchess  was  particularly  subjected.  In  1644,  at  the  age  of 
twenty-one,  she  had  accompanied  Henrietta  Maria  to  France, 
living  at  Paris  during  four  impressionable  years,  and  after 
that,  as  we  have  seen  in  Chapter  I,  residing  nearly  as  long 
in  the  Low  Countries.  This  continental  atmosphere  must 
have  had  its  effect  on  the  girl,  since  in  1649  she  commenced 
her  first  mature  work.  At  any  rate  that  appears  to  be  the 
date,  for  in  an  "  Epistle  to  her  Braine,"  prefixed  to  Philo- 
sophical Fancies,  appears  the  following  verse :  ^ 

For  seven  yeares  't  is,  since  I  have  married  bin. 

This  line  must  have  been  written  in  1652,  and  near  the  close 
of  the  same  volume  she  gives  the  reader  further  information 
as  to  times  and  seasons :  ^ 

I  begun  a  booke  about  three  years  since,  which  I  intend  to  name 
The  World''s  Olio^  and  when  I  come  into  Flanders,  where  those 
papers  are,  I  will  (if  God  give  me  life  and  health)  finish  it,  and  send 
it  forth  in  print. 

This  places  the  Duchess's  earliest  extant  production  in  1649,2 
two  years  before  Mrs.  Philips's  first  published  poems  ^  and  four 

1  Walpole's  Catalogue,  ed.  Park,  III,  1 53. 

2  Ibid.,  Ill,  154. 

*  "  I  writ  most  part  of  it  before  I  went  into  England."  —  A  True  Relation^ 
Firth,  p.  170.  *  The  article  on  Katharine  Philips  in  Did.  Nat,  Biog. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  173 

previous  to  her  own  public  appearance  as  a  writer.  In  1653  ^ 
she  brought  out  the  Poems  and  Fancies^  which  was  composed 
under  the  circumstances  described  in  an  introductory  epistle, 
"To  the  Reader"  :3 

If  any  do  read  this  Book  of  mine,  pray  be  not  too  severe  in  your 
Censures.  For  first  I  have  no  children  to  imploy  my  Care,  and  at- 
tendance on ;  And  my  Lords  Estate  being  taken  away,  had  nothing 
for  Housewifery  or  thrifty  Industry  to  imploy  my  selfe  in.  .  .  .  Thirdly, 
you  are  to  spare  your  severe  Censures,  I  having  not  so  many  yeares 

1  Though  dated  so  the  book  may  have  been  out  by  1652,  for  under  that 
date  was  written,  "  Upon  y«  La  Margaret  Marchioness  of  Newcastle  her  rare 
poems  new  come  forth."    See  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  10  Rep.,  App.,  /F,  p.  47. 

2  "  In  the  British  Museum  is  a  copy  of  the  Poems  and  Fancies  with  ms. 
notes  by  the  authoress  which  are  mentioned  in  the  catalogue,  but  are  neither 
many,  nor  curious,  they  occasionally  inform  us,  these  lines  my  lord  writ?^  — 
Dyce's  Specimens  of  British  Poetesses,  pp.  89-90.  Originally  there  seems  to 
have  been  prefixed  a  portrait  by  Diepenbeck,  representing  the  authoress 
seated  "  before  a  table  on  a  balcony ;  four  cupids  above  her  head  hold  up  the 
folds  of  a  curtain,  and  prepare  to  crown  her  with  a  laurel  wreath ;  a  tablet 
below  is  inscribed  with  the  following  verses : 

Studious  She  is  and  all  Alone 

Most  visitants,  when  She  has  none, 

Her  Library  on  which  She  looks 

It  is  her  Head,  her  Thoughts,  her  Books 

Scominge  dead  Ashes  without  fire 

For  her  owne  Flames  doe  her  Inspire." 

See  Grolier  Club  Collections  and  Notes.  Wither  to  Prior,  I,  136.  In  some 
copies  this  plate  is  lacking,  and  in  some,  other  portraits  have  been  inserted. 
On  the  fly-leaf  of  a  copy  in  Mr.  Henry  E.  Huntington's  library,  the  Earl  of 
Westmoreland  has  written  a  poem  of  eighteen  lines  ending, 

The  Stile,  the  Method  &  the  phrase 

Doe  heighten  soe  the  Authoress'  prayse  1 

That  I  should  too  iniurious  be 

To  cast  into  such  Treasury 

For  all  the  Graces  heer  are  mett 

To  make  a  Pearle  of  Margeret. 

*  The  Duchess  does  not  profess  great  ability  in  poetry,  "  for  though  I  am  a 
poetess,  yet  I  am  but  a  poetastress,  or  a  petty  poetess,  but  howsoever,  I  am  a 
legitimate  poetical  child  of  nature,  and  though  my  poems,  which  are  the  body 
of  the  poetical  soul,  are  not  so  beautiful  and  pleasing  as  the  rest  of  her  poeti- 
cal childrens  bodies  are,  yet  I  am  nevertheless  her  child,  although  but  a 
hxo^Xi^V  —  C CXI  Sociable  Letters,  Letter  CXLVI. 


174  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

of  Experience,  as  will  make  me  a  Garland  to  Crowne  my  Head ;  onely 
I  have  had  so  much  time,  as  to  gather  a  little  Poesie  to  stick  upon 
my  Breast.  Lastly,  the  time  I  have  been  writing  them,  hath  not  been 
very  long,  but  since  I  came  into  England,  being  eight  Yeares  out,  and 
nine  Months  in ;  and  of  these  nine  Months,  onely  some  Houres  in  the 
Day,  or  rather  in  the  Night.  For  my  Rest  being  broke  with  discon- 
tented Thoughts,  because  I  was  from  my  Lord,  and  Husband,  know- 
ing him  to  be  in  great  Wants,  and  my  self e  in  the  same  Condition ; 
to  divert  them,  I  strove  to  turne  the  Stream,  yet  shunning  the  muddy 
and  foule  waies  of  Vice,  I  went  to  the  Well  of  Helicon  and  by  the 
Wells  side,  I  have  sat,  and  wrote  this  Worke. 

The  volume  is  appropriately  dedicated  to  Sir  Charles  Caven- 
dish, who,  we  know,  was  her  companion  in  England,  but  there 
are  also  introductory  letters,  *'  To  All  Noble,  and  Worthy 
Ladies,"  "To  Mistris  Toppe,"i  "To  Naturall  Philosophers," 
and  not  a  few  verses  which  set  forth  the  authoress's  trepida- 
tion about  publishing.    The  last  begs  that  the  reader 

Condemne  me  not  for  making  such  a  coyle 

About  my  Book,  alas  it  is  my  Childe. 

Just  like  a  Bird,  when  her  Young  are  in  Nest, 

Goes  in,  and  out,  and  hops  and  takes  no  Rest ; 

But  when  their  Young  are  fledg'd,  their  heads  out  peep, 

Lord  what  a  chirping  does  the  Old  one  keep.^ 

The  first  division  of  this  book  deals  with  physics,  or,  in  the 
phrase  of  that  day,  "natural  philosophy."  It  is  chiefly  impor- 
tant as  marking  the  Duchess's  earliest  statement  of  her  original 
scientific  system,  which  is  not  science  at  all,  but  fancy,  pure 
and  simple.  Its  form  of  rhymed,  almost  jingled,  couplets 
seems  strongly  reminiscent  of  the  gnomic  verses  and  mock 
epitaphs  in  the  Hesperides^  and  it  is  probable  that  Herrick's 
poetry  was  well  known  to  her.  However,  the  Duchess  is  for 
the  most  part  so  occupied  with  her  thought  that  she  takes  little 

1  Her  waiting  maid  (Firth,  p.  46).  She  is  "  Lady  Toppe  "  in  the  third 
edition,  1668. 

2  "  An  Excuse  for  so  much  writ  upon  my  Verses." 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  175 

pains  in  expressing  it,  and  once  or  twice  she  even  relapses 
into  prose  the  better  to  explain  her  idea.^  Still,  an  occasional 
approach  to  poetic  feeling  appears  in  her  writing;  witness 
"  Of  Shadow  and  Echo  "  :  2 

A  Shadow  fell  in  love  with  the  bright  Light, 
Which  makes  her  walke  perpetually  in  her  sight 
And  when  He  's  absent,  then  poore  Soule  she  dyes. 
But  when  He  shewes  himselfe,  her  Life  revives. 
She  sister  is  to  Eccho  loud,  and  cleere 
Whose  voice  is  heard,  but  no  Body  appeare : 
She  hates  to  see,  or  shew  her  selfe  to  men. 
Unless  Narcissus  could  live  once  agen. 

Near  the  end  of  each  part  occurs  a  strange  heading,  '*  The 
Claspe,"  which  seems  meant  to  connect  what  goes  before  with 
that  which  follows.  Her  first  Clasp  begins  with  these  astonish- 
ing lines,  describing  the  throes  of  composition, 

When  I  did  write  this  Booke,  I  took  great  paines, 
For  I  did  walke,  and  thinke,  and  break  my  Braines ; 

and  continues  with  an  application  of  arithmetical  laws  to  the 
passions.  How  this  relates  natural  to  moral  philosophy  may 
have  been  known  to  the  Duchess,  but  it  seems  singularly 
obscure  to  us  Philistines.  At  any  rate  her  second  division 
consists  chiefly  of  ''Dialogues"  or  Debates, — between  man 
and  nature,  earth  and  cold,  joy  and  discretion,  wit  and  beauty, 
and  "  betwixt  an  Oake  and  a  Man  cutting  him  downe,"  with 
many  other  like  discussions.  One  wonders  if  that  ''  between 
a  Bountiful!  Knight  and  a  Castle  ruin'd  in  War  "  was  occa- 
sioned by  knowledge  of  Bolsover's  condition,  for  the  castle 
bewails  its  plight  as  follows  : 

1  P.  20,  n.,  and  just  before  "  Of  Elements."  Also  "  A  Circle  Squar'd  in 
Prose  (Note :  Because  my  Lines  are  too  long  for  my  Rhimes,  therefore  I  put 
them  in  Prose)." 

2  Of  this  poem  Southey  writes,  "  Never  was  fancy  more  poetically  con- 
ceived or  unpoetically  expressed."  —  Common-place  Book,  4th  Series,  p.  334. 


176  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Where  every  Feild,  like  Gardens,  is  inclos'd, 
Where  fresh  green  Grasse,  and  yellow  Cowslips  grow'd 
There  did  I  see  fat  Sheep  in  Pastures  go, 
Hearing  the  Cowes,  whose  bags  were  full,  to  low 
By  Wars  am  now  destroy'd,  all  Rights  o'repowr'd 
Beauty,  and  Innocency  are  devoured. 

Quite  the  best  of  all  these  colloquies  is  *'A  Dialogue  of 
Birds,"  ^  which  has  never  been  reprinted  but  deserves  to  be 
known  for  its  sympathetic  description  of  nature.  The  different 
birds  lament  how  badly  man  treats  them  but  explain  that 
Nature  should  receive  no  blame : 

For  Love  is  Natures  chiefest  Law  in  Mind, 
Hate  but  an  Accident  from  Love  we  find. 
Tis  true.    Self-Preservation  is  the  chiefe. 
But  Luxury  to  Nature  is  a  Theefe. 

Such  a  benevolent  statement  of  the  struggle  for  existence  is 
hardly  typical  of  the  seventeenth  century  or  those  Hobbesian 
principles  that  underlay  it,  but  it  clearly  reveals  the  Duchess's 
innate  goodness.  So  does  that  delightful  picture  she  draws  of 
the  birds'  nest-building  and  their  return  home  at  night : 

But  none  did  labour  like  the  little  Wren, 

To  build  her  Nest,  to  hatch  her  young  Ones  in. 

She  laies  more  Eggs  than  all  the  rest. 

And  with  much  Art  doth  build  her  Nest. 

The  younger  sort  made  love,  and  kiss'd  each  others  Bill 

The  Cock  would  catch  some  Flies  to  give  his  Mistress  still 

The  Yellow  hammer  cried,  tis  wet,  tis  wet. 

For  it  will  raine  before  the  Sun  doth  set. 

Taking  their  Flight,  as  each  Mind  thought  it  best. 

Some  fled  abroad,  and  some  home  to  their  Nest. 


Then  did  they  stretch  their  Wings  to  flye  fast  home 
And  as  like  Men,  from  Market  home  they  come, 
Set  out  alone,  but  every  Mile  adds  some : 


1  Pp.  70-7  5. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  177 

Untill  a  Troop  of  Neighbours  get  together, 
So  do  a  flight  of  Birds  in  Sun-shine  weather. 

When  they  their  wings  had  prun'd  and  young  ones  fed, 

Sate  gossipping  before  they  went  to  Bed. 

Let  us  a  Carroll,  said  the  Black-bird,  sing, 

Before  we  go  to  Bed  this  fine  evening. 

The  Thrushes,  Linnets,  Finches,  all  took  parts, 

A  Harmony  by  Nature,  not  by  Arts. 

But  all  their  Songs  were  Hymnes  to  God  on  high, 

Praising  his  Name,  blessing  his  Majesty. 

And  when  they  askt  for  Gifts,  to  God  did  pray, 

He  would  be  pleas'd  to  give  them  a  faire  day. 

At  last  they  drowsie  grew,  and  heavie  were  to  sleep, 

And  then  instead  of  singing  cried.  Peep,  Peep, 

Thus  went  to  rest  each  Head,  under  each  wing, 
For  Sleep  brings  Peace  to  every  living  thing. 

More  famous  is  the  ''  Dialogue  between  Melancholy  and 
Mirth,"  which  gave  rise  to  a  lively  description  of  the  Duchess 
in  T/ie  Connoisseur}  In  what  purports  to  be  a  vision,  certain 
female  poets  undertake  to  ride  Pegasus,  beginning  in  the 
order  of  their  seniority : 

Upon  this  a  lady  advanced ;  who,  though  she  had  something  rather 
extravagant  in  her  air  and  deportment,  yet  had  a  noble  presence,  that 
commanded  at  once  awe  and  admiration.  She  was  dressed  in  an  old- 
fashioned  habit,  very  fantastic,  and  trimmed  with  bugles  and  points ; 
such  as  was  worn  in  the  time  of  king  Charles  the  First.  This  lady,  I 
was  informed  was  the  duchess  of  Newcastle.  When  she  came  to  mount, 
she  sprung  into  the  saddle  with  surprising  agility  and  giving  an  entire 
loose  to  the  reins,  Pegasus  directly  set  up  a  gallop  and  ran  away  with 
her  quite  out  of  sight.  However,  it  was  acknowledged,  that  she  kept 
a  firm  seat,  even  when  the  horse  went  at  his  deepest  rate ;  and  that 
she  wanted  nothing  but  to  ride  with  a  curb-bridle.  When  she  came  to 
dismount,  Shakspeare  and  Milton  very  kindly  offered  their  hand  to 
help  her  down,  which  she  accepted.  Then  Euterpe  came  up  to  her 
with  a  smile,  and  begged  her  to  repeat  those  beautiful  lines  against 

1  No.  LXIX  for  Thursday,  May  22,  1775. 


178  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

melancholy,  which  (she  said)  were  so  extremely  picturesque.  The 
duchess,  with  a  most  pleasing  air  immediately  began.  .  . 

Dull  Melancholy  .  .  . 
She  '11  make  you  start  at  ev'ry  noise  you  hear, 
And  visions  strange  shall  to  your  eyes  appear. 
Her  voice  is  low,  and  gives  an  hollow  sound ; 
She  hates  the  light,  and  is  in  darkness  found ; 
Or  sits  by  blinking  lamps,  or  tapers  small. 
Which  various  shadows  make  against  the  wall. 
She  loves  nought  else  but  noise  which  discord  makes, 
As  croaking  frogs,  whose  dwelling  is  in  lakes ; 
The  raven  hoarse,  the  mandrake's  hollow  groan ; 
And  shrieking  owls,  that  fly  i'  th'  night  alone ; 
The  tolling  bell,  which  for  the  dead  rings  out ; 
A  mill,  where  rushing  waters  run  about. 
She  loves  to  walk  in  the  still  moon-shine  night, 
And  in  a  thick  dark  grove  she  takes  delight : 
In  hollow  caves,  thatch'd  houses,  and  low  cells. 
She  loves  to  live,  and  there  alone  she  dwells. 
There  leave  her  to  herself  alone  to  dwell. 
While  you  and  I  in  mirth  and  pleasure  swell.^ 

All  the  while  that  these  Hnes  were  repeating,  Milton  seemed  very 
attentive;  and  it  was  whispered  by  some,  that  he  was  obliged  for 
many  of  the  thoughts  in  his  V Allegro  and  //  Penseroso  to  this 
lady's  Dialogue  between  Mirth  and  Melancholy. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  Milton's  lyrics  were  written  twenty  years 
before  the  Duchess's,  but  the  error  has  often  been  repeated  ^ 
or  ignored. 

Following  the  '*  Dialogues  "  come  *' Moral  Discourses,"  on 
love,  pride,  ambition,  humility,  and  other  abstractions.  "  Of 
the  Ant"  shows  minute  observation  of  that  insect's  cooperative 
faculty,  likening  its  community  to  the  Lacedaemonians',  where 

1  Leigh  Hunt  says  there  are  some  "very  good  Hnes"  in  this  poem.  See 
Men.,  Women.,  and  Books,  II,  loi. 

2  Notably  by  D'Israeli  in  his  Curiosities  of  Literature,  where  he  writes  that 
her  "verses  have  been  imitated  by  Milton,"  ed.  1833,  II,  61,  from  "A 
Literary  Wife."  Kippis  in  his  edition  of  Biographia  Britannica,  III,  341,  "  be- 
lieves "  this  connection  to  be  groundless ;  and  cf .  Rhys,  Everyman  edition  of 
the  Life,  p.  xxii. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  179 

everything  was  held  in  common.  The  next  Clasp  voices  a 
sentiment  of  pretty  frequent  occurrence  in  the  Duchess's  work : 

Give  me  a  Stile  that  Nature  frames,  not  Art ; 
For  Art  doth  seem  to  take  the  Pedants  part. 

The  formlessness  of  her  book  is  seen  by  the  immediate  succes- 
sion of  ''The  Hunting  of  the  Hare,"  ^  in  which  poor  Wat's 
ultimate  end  is  lamented  in  a  most  astonishingly  humanitarian 
way,  and  "  The  Hunting  of  the  Stag,"  2  with  its  catalogue  of 
trees,  which  extends  for  some  twenty  lines.  Of  the  latter  verses 
Edmund  Waller  is  said  to  have  ''  declared  that  he  would  give 
all  his  own  compositions  to  have  written  them  ;  and  being 
charged  with  the  exorbitance  of  his  adulation  answered  that 
'nothing  was  too  much  to  be  given,  that  a  Lady  might  be 
saved  from  the  disgrace  of  such  a  vile  performance.' "  ^  This 
Clasp  is  completed  by  "Of  an  Island," 

Where  Grasse  growes  up  even  to  the  Belly  high, 
Where  Beasts,  that  chew  their  Cud,  in  Pleasure  Lye, 

and  by  "  The  Ruine  of  the  Island  "  after  the  people  became  so 
proud  that  they  threw  down  the  altars  of  their  gods.  Through- 
out her  work,  fantastic  and  romantic  as  it  is,  the  Duchess 
never  lets  one  entirely  forget  the  unhappy  state  of  England 
and  of  its  nobility. 

The  third  division  in  Poems  and  Fancies  is  headed  "  To 
Poets "  and  is  composed  of  similes,  wherein  death  becomes 
likened  to  Nature's  cook,  the  head  to  a  barrel  of  wine,  the 

iPp.  110-113.  2ppn2_ii6. 

*  Johnson's  "Life  of  Waller,"  in  Lives  of  the  Poets,  ed.  Waugh,  II,  50.  Two 
satiric  lines  written  on  the  fly-leaf  of  Waller's  copy  of  Philosophical  and 
Physical  Opinions,  1663,  may  also  be  by  that  poet: 

New  Castles  in  the  air  this  Lady  builds, 
While  nonsense  with  Philosophy  she  guilds. 

The  volume  containing  this  couplet  is  now  owned  by  Mr.  Henry  E.  Huntington 
of  New  York  City. 


i8o  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

tongue  to  a  wheel,  and  many  another  odd  conceit  appears  such 
as  was  possible  only  because  of  the  Elizabethan  tradition.  One 
passage  compares  ''the  Sea  to  Meadowes,  and  Pastures,  the 
Marriners  to  Shepheards,  the  Mast  to  a  Maypole,  Fishes  to 
Beasts,"  and,  as  though  that  mixture  of  metaphors  were  not 
enough,  a  marginal  note  informs  us  that  "the  Ship  is  taken 
for  a  Horse."  The  most  interesting  poems  in  this  section 
are  two  which  come  at  the  beginning  and  which  illustrate 
certain  literary  doctrines  held  by  our  authoress.  One  states  the 
importance  of  originality,  and  it  is  very  fitting  that  the  Duchess, 
who  gains  her  place  in  literature  by  that  virtue,  should  place  so 
much  emphasis  upon  it : 

There  's  None  should  Places  have  in  Fames  high  Court, 
But  those  that  first  do  win  Invention's  Fort : 
Not  Messengers,  that  onely  make  Report. 

The  other  hits  at  what  she  considers  the  common  error  of 
paying  too  little  attention  to  substance  and  too  much  to  the 
form  of  its  expression: 

Most  of  our  moderne  writers  now  a  days 
Consider  not  the  fancy  but  the  phrase : 
As  if  fine  words  were  wit  or  one  should  say 
A  woman  's  handsome,  if  her  clothes  be  gay : 
Regarding  not  what  beauty 's  in  the  face, 
Nor  what  proportion  doth  the  body  grace ; 

''  Fantasmes  Masque  "  occupies  the  following  Clasp.  It  is 
supposed  to  take  place  in  the  brain  and  under  the  guise  of 
a  ship's  voyage  narrates  Margaret  Lucas's  wanderings.  Her 
setting  forth,  the  haven  of  refuge  in  France,  the  union  with  a 
noble  lord,  her  subsequent  poverty  and  expedition  to  the  North 
would  leave  no  room  for  doubt  as  to  this  identification,  even 
if  it  were  not  for  the  couplet. 

But  when  the  Stormes  of  Dangers  all  were  past, 
Upon  the  Coast  of it  was  cast. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  i8l 

When  the  authoress  was  writing  in  England  she  did  not  know 
on  what  shore  her  future  lot  would  fall,  but  in  the  1664  revi- 
sion of  her  book  the  word  ''  Flanders  "  is  inserted  to  fill  that 
blank.  The  next  part,  *'To  all  Writing  Ladies,"  is  mainly 
given  over  to  verses  on  the  Queen  of  Fairies.  The  Duchess 
wonders  that  people  should  not  believe  these  little  creatures 
exist,  "  for  Nature  can  as  well  make  small  bodies,  as  great, 
and  thin  bodies  as  well  as  thicke.  We  may  as  well  thinke 
there  is  no  Aire,  because  we  do  not  see  it."  ^ 

There  are  four  poems  devoted  to  this  subject:  "The  Fairy 
Queen,"  ''  The  Pastime  and  Recreation  of  the  Queen  of  Fairies 
in  Fairyland,"  '*The  Pastime  of  the  Queen  of  Fairies,  when 
she  comes  upon  the  Earth  out  of  the  Center,"  and  *'  Her  de- 
scending downe."  Naturally  these  themes  give  full  play  to  the 
Duchess's  fancy,  but  the  subject  is  not  an  original  one.  More- 
over, echoes  of  Herrick  and  Shakespeare  are  well-nigh  inevita- 
ble in  any  work  patterned  upon  theirs.  The  Newcastle  fairies, 
like  Herrick's  Oberon,  eat  off  a  mushroom  table,^  feast  on  ants* 
eggs,^  and  have  a  palace  illuminated  by  glowworms*  eyes.* 
The  Duchess  names  her  queen  Mab,  as  Mercutio  does,  and 
both  mention  the  royal  chariot's  being  made  from  a  nutshell.^ 
Most  striking  parallel  of  all  is  the  account  of  Hobgoblin's 
pranks  when  compared  with  Puck's  in  A  Midsummer-Nighf s 
Dreamt     In    every    case    the    lady   proves    inferior    to    her 

1  **  To  the  Readers  Concerning  Fairies." 

2  Hesperides,  No.  294,  line  7  ;  and  "  Pastime  and  Recreation." 

*  Hesperides,  No.  294,  line  3  ;  and  "  Pastime  and  Recreation." 

*  Hesperides,  No.  444,  line  7  ;  and  "  Pastime  and  Recreation." 
^  Romeo  and  Juliet,  I,  4  ;  and  "  Pastime  and  Recreation." 

*  Act  II,  scene  i;  and  "Pastime  of  the  Queen  of  Fairies."  This  and 
other  passages  from  A  Midsummer  Night's  Dream  are  imitated  in  Drayton's 
Nymphidia  and  in  The  Pranks  of  Puck.  See  notes  to  Rolfe's  edition  of  the 
play.  Drayton  was  a  connecting  link  in  the  fairy  tradition  but  does  not  seem 
to  have  had  any  direct  influence  on  Margaret,  in  spite  of  the  Cambridge  His- 
tory, IV,  193 ;  the  windows  of  his  palace  are  made  from  cats'  eyes  and  his 
queen's  chariot  is  the  shell  of  a  snail. 


1 82  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

predecessors,  as  was  to  be  expected ;  only  in  an  '*  Epilogue  " 
to  the  series  does  she  attain  real  novelty  and  real  charm, 
mingled  with  a  most  gracious  account  of  her  relations  with 
Newcastle's  brother : 

Sir  Charles  unto  my  chamber  coming  in, 

When  I  was  writing  of  my  Fairy  Queen ; 

I  pray,  said  he,  when  Queen  Mab  you  do  see 

Present  my  service  to  her  Majesty : 

And  tell  her  I  have  heard  Fame's  loud  report 

Both  of  her  beauty  and  her  stately  court. 

When  I  Queen  Mab  within  my  fancy  viewed,^ 

My  thoughts  bowed  low,  fearing  I  should  be  rude ; 

Kissing  her  garment  thin  which  fancy  made. 

Kneeling  upon  a  thought,  like  one  that  prayed ; 

In  whispers  soft,  I  did  present 

His  humble  service  which  in  mirth  was  sent ; 

Thus  by  imagination  I  have  been 

In  Fairy  court  and  seen  the  Fairy  Queen. 

For  why,  imagination  runs  about 

In  every  place,  yet  none  can  trace  it  out.^ 

The  following  Clasp  nearly  spoils  this  fairy  poetry  by  trying 
to  relate  it  to  the  Duchess's  scientific  system  of  atoms  which 
are  at  war  within  the  human  body.  That  brings  in  an  ''Epistle 
to  Souldiers  "  and  introduces  a  section  occupied  with  battles, 
varying  from  one  between  courage  and  prudence  to  one  be- 
tween King  Oberon  and  the  Pygmies.    These  martial  themes 

1  Compare  a  stanza  formerly  supposed  to  be  by  John  Donne,  but  now 
ascribed  to  Sir  John  Harington  {^Cambridge  History,  IV,  209).   Of  his  lady-love 

By  absence  this  good  means  I  gain 

That  I  can  catch  her, 

Where  none  can  watch  her, 
In  some  close  comer  of  my  brain ; 

There  I  embrace  and  kiss  her 

And  so  enjoy  her,  and  none  miss  her. 

2  M.  !£mile  Montegut  with  a  truly  Gallic  point  of  view  imagines  that  this 
epilogue  reveals  a  secret  love  the  Duchess  felt  for  her  brother-in-law.  See  La 
Duchesse  et  le  Due  de  Newcastle,  pp.  222-223. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  1 83 

are  appropriately  succeeded  by  "A  Register  of  Mournful! 
Verses,"  that  is,  a  series  of  laments  without  any  special  pur- 
pose or  unity.  Appended  to  the  poems  is  a  prose  treatise  of 
twelve  pages  1  entitled  '*  The  Animall  Parliament,"  where  the 
soul,  the  thoughts,  and  the  body  take  order  for  the  preser- 
vation of  their  world.  There  are  various  complaints  lodged 
concerning  abuses  in  ears,  eyebrows,  teeth,  and  stomach,  but 
the  chief  grievance  is  "  that  the  Puritans  and  Roman  Priests 
cut  downe  all  the  stately  and  thick  woods  of  Haire,  as  there 
is  almost  none  left  grown  to  build  ships  of  ornament  with  .  .  . 
besides  the  prodigall  effeminate  Sex  bums  it  up  with  Iron 
workes,  or  breaks  it  off  at  the  rootes,  in  making  traps  for 
Lovers."  Indeed,  the  Duchess  seems  to  lay  much  censure 
upon  the  dictates  of  fashion,  which,  as  we  shall  see,  she  her- 
self refused  to  follow. 

The  last  three  pages  in  this  volume  ^  are  composed  of  sev- 
eral short  pieces,  setting  forth  some  of  the  authoress's  main 
hobbies.  There  is  a  prose  as  well  as  a  verse  statement  that 
expression  of  one's  thought  is  not  so  important  as  the  thought 
itself,  with  a  very  frank  confession  of  her  own  delinquencies 
in  rhyme  and  metre.  There  is  comment  upon  the  prevalence 
of  backbiting  criticism,  and  a  final  word  deals  with  the  Duke's 
excellences,  this  time  in  connection  with  literature : 

A  Poet  I  am  neither  born  nor  bred, 
But  to  a  witty  poet  married : 
Whose  brain  is  fresh  and  pleasant  as  the  Spring, 
Where  Fancies  grow  and  where  the  Muses  sing. 
There  oft  I  lean  my  head,  and  Hst'ning,  harke, 
To  heare  his  words  and  all  his  fancies  mark : 
And  from  that  garden  Flowers  of  Fancies  take 
Whereof  a  posie  up  in  verse  I  make. 
Thus  I,  that  have  no  garden  of  my  own, 
There  gather  flowers  that  are  newly  blowne. 

1  Pp.  199-2 1 1.  2  pp  211-214. 


1 84  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Newcastle  certainly  reciprocated,  for  in  the  second  edition 
(1664)  1  he  addressed  a  panegyric  to  his  wife,  which  after  com- 
paring her  in  favorable  terms  with  Spenser,  Jonson,  Fletcher, 
and  Shakespeare,  not  to  mention  Van  Dyck,  modestly  concludes, 

I  thought  to  Praise  you,  but  alas,  my  Way 
To  yours,  is  Night  unto  a  Glorious  Day .2 

An  added  note  in  the  earlier  edition  declares,  *' Reader,  I 
have  a  little  Tract  of  Philosophicall  Fancies  in  Prose,  which 
will  not  be  long  before  it  appear  in  the  World."  This  was 
not,  however,  the  first  work  on  the  subject  that  the  Duchess 
had  written.  In  an  "Introductory  Epistle"  to  the  Life  she 
placidly  records  that  ''it  pleased  God  to  command  his  serv- 
ant Nature  to  indue  me  with  a  poetical  and  philosophical 
genius,  even  from  my  birth;  for  I  did  write  some  books  in 
that  kind,  before  I  was  twelve  years  of  age,  which  for  want 
of  good  method  and  order,  I  would  never  divulge."  ^  And  in 
another  place :  ^ 

You  desired  me  to  send  you  the  Sixteen  Books  I  Writ  in  my  Child- 
hood;  methinks  they  sound  like  the  Twelve  Labours  of  Hercules, 
only  that  there  are  Four  Labours  more  ...  In  my  Sixteen  Books  is 
Sense  and  No  Sense,  Knowledge  and  Ignorance,  Mingled  together, 
so  that  you  will  not  know  what  to  make  of  it ;  or  in  a  Lower  Com- 
parison, you  will  find  every  Book  like  a  Frippery,  or  Brokers-shop, 
wherein  is  nothing  but  Remnants,  Bits  and  Ends  of  Several  things, 
or  like  Taylors  Shreds,  that  are  not  fit  for  any  Use ;  wherefore  I  can- 
not Imagine  why  you  should  Desire  them,  unless  out  of  a  Friendship, 
you  will  See,  and  Burn  them  before  I  Die,  fearing  I  should  Neglect 

1  There  was  a  third  issue  in  1668  under  the  transformed  title  of  "  Poems  or 
Several  Fancies  in  Verse :  with  the  Animal  Parliament,  in  Prose." 

2  Clarendon  writes  to  Newcastle  on  May  30,  1653,  that  he  has  diligently 
studied  "my  ladyes  booke"  (probably  the  Poems  and  Fancies)  "  and  could  not 
have  believed  ...  so  many  tearmes  of  arte,  and  such  expressyons  proper  to 
all  sciences  and  to  all  kinds  of  learninge  could  have  flowed  from  a  person 
unskilled  in  any  but  our  mother  tongue,  which  is  now  made  much  more 
copyous  than  it  was."  —  Calendar  of  Clarendon  Papers^  II,  209. 

8  Firth,  p.  xxxvi.  *  C CXI  Sociable  Letters,  Letter  CXXXI. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  185 

the  Sacrificing  of  them  my  self,  for  you  are  Pleased  not  only  to  send 
for  One,  but  all  the  Sixteen.  But,  I  suppose,  you  believe  them  to 
be  so  many  several  sheets  of  Paper  folded  into  Quarters,  or  Half 
Quarters,  as  into  little  Baby-books,  for  it  was  in  my  Baby-years  I 
writ  them,  and  it  had  been  well  they  had  been  no  Bigger  than  Baby- 
Books,  but  the  least  of  these  Books  are  two  or  three  Quires  of 
Paper ;  Neither  can  you  Read  them  when  you  have  them,  unless  you 
have  the  Art  or  Gift  to  Read  Unknown  Letters,  for  the  Letters  are 
not  only  Unlegible,  but  each  Letter  stands  so  Cowardly  from  th'  other, 
as  all  the  Lines  of  your  Sight  cannot  Draw,  or  Bring  them  into  Words.^ 
.  .  .  Moreover  there  are  such  huge  Blots  as  I  may  Similize  them 
to  Broad  Seas  or  Vast  Mountains  .  .  .  Also  there  are  Long,  Hard 
Scratches,  which  will  be  as  Bad  for  your  Eyes,  as  Long,  Stony 
Lanes  would  be  to  your  Feet ;  wherefore  let  me  persuade  you  as  Your 
Friend,  not  Desperately  to  Venture  to  Read  them,  since  you  can 
neither  receive  Profit  nor  Pleasure  in  the  Labour. 

The  World's  Olio,  her  first  fully  developed  work,  contains 
some  few  opinions  on  physics,^  which  were  first  published 
as  Part  I  of  Poems  and  Fancies,  to  be  rearranged  but  not 
materially  altered  in  1664.  As  the  authoress  asserts  in  pro- 
testing their  originality,  *'  though  the  Opinion  of  Atoms  is  as 
Old  as  from  the  Time  of  Epicurus,  yet  my  Conceptions  of 
their  Figures,  Creating  and  Disposing  are  New,  and  my  Own."  ^ 
She  goes  on  to  say  that  she  felt  the  world  could  not  be  made 

1  "  You  might  think  I  had  been  bound  to  the  Profession  of  a  Scrivener 
not  to  Write  an  Intelligible  Hand,  but  to  make  Wast  Paper,  for  they  being 
paid  for  the  most  part  by  the  Sheets  and  not  by  the  Letters,  put  as  few  Letters 
in  a  Sheet  of  Paper  as  subtilly  as  they  can,  leaving  a  Large  Space  betwixt 
every  Line,  and  they  make  their  Letters  as  Big,  and  Broad  as  they  may,  as 
not  to  misshape  them,  also  with  Large  and  Long  Flourishing  Scratches."  — 
C CXI  Sociable  Letters,  Letter  CXXXIV. 

^  Marvell  in  the  Last  Instructions  to  a  Painter  writes : 

Paint  then  again  her  Highness  to  the  life 
Philosopher  beyond  Newcastle's  wife. 

See  The  Muses'  Library,  Satires,  p.  22. 

*  "  Another  Epistle  to  the  Reader,"  prefixed  to  the  1663  edition  of  Philo- 
sophical and  Physical  Opinions.  Compare  "  Thats  an  old  opinion  of  Atomes, 
say  some,  witnesse  Democrates  and  many  others."  —  "  An  Epistle  to  Justifie  the 
Lady  Newcastle"  prefixed  to  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions,  1655. 


1 86  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

of  atoms  unless  each  one  had  life  and  knowledge,  yet  all  must 
be  under  some  mightier  force,  called  God,  or  there  would 
be  confusion  amongst  them.  How  this  idea  tended  to  subor- 
dinate the  conception  of  atoms  is  further  explained  in  the 
same  context: 

But  my  Opinion  of  Atoms,  in  my  Book  of  Poems  is,  if  the  Infinite 
and  Eternal  Matter  be  Atoms,  that  those  Figures  of  Atoms,  which  I 
there  mention,  as  Round,  Square,  Long,  Triangular,  Pointed  and  all 
other  Figures,  are  part  of  those  Figures  which  make  Air,  Fire,  Water 
and  Earth,  and  how  they  are  Disposed  in  the  Creation  of  Animals, 
Vegetables  and  Minerals ;  also  that  the  Weight  and  Quantity  of  each 
Atom  must  be  Alike,  for  if  every  Atom  be  so  small  as  in  Nature  it 
can  be,  then  the  Weight  and  Quantity  of  each  Atom  must  be  Alike, 
all  which  I  treat  of  in  my  Book  of  Poems;  but  by  reason  it  is  in 
Verse,  it  is  not  so  Clearly  or  Solidly  Expressed,  as  I  might  have  done 
it  in  Prose ;  besides  it  was  the  First  of  my  Works  that  I  Divulged, 
being  Printed  in  the  Year  1653,  in  which  Year  also  I  caused  to  be 
Printed  the  first  Edition  of  my  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions, 
but  since  that  time  I  have  thought  more  of  it,  and  could  give  Better 
Reasons  concerning  Atoms  than  I  could  then,  having  since  Spent  the 
most  of  my  Time  in  Contemplations ;  but  now  I  Wave  the  Old  Opinion 
of  Atoms,  for  it  is  not  probable,  they  should  be  the  Cause  of  such 
Effects  as  are  in  Nature,  and  it  seemeth  not  so  Clearly  to  my  Reason 
as  these  my  Own  and  Absolutely  New  Opinions  of  Natural  Philosophy. 

The  1653  edition  of  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opi7tions, 
to  which  allusion  is  here  made,  coincides  with  the  "  little  tract 
of  Philosophicall  Fancies  "  promised  at  the  end  of  Poems  and 
Fancies,  It  was  composed  in  1652  and  published  on  May  21 
of  the  next  year  as  Philosophicall  fancies ,  written  by  the 
Rt.  Hon.  the  Lady  Newcastle}  but  in  its  revision  two  years 
later  was  known  by  the  longer  title.  Before  1655  the  Duchess 
had  already  returned  to  Flanders,^  and  accordingly  her  husband 
introduced  the  reprint  by  a  laudatory  poem,  with  ''An  Epistle 
To  justifie  the  Lady  Newcastle,  and  Truth  against  falshood, 

1  Catalogue  of  the  British  Museum. 

2  A  True  Relation,  Firth,  p.  170. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  187 

laying  those  false,  and  malicious  aspersions  of  her,  that  she 
was  not  Author  of  her  Books."  The  wonder  of  a  woman  as 
writer  may  have  caused  these  doubts,  for  otherwise  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand  how  she  could  be  considered  a  plagiarist. 
All  her  writings,  whether  pseudo-scientific  or  professedly  imagi- 
native, are  so  fantastic  and  individual  as  to  be  indisputably 
her  own  invention.^  Nevertheless  the  Duchess  was  much  dis- 
turbed by  adverse  criticism,  especially  that  directed  against 
her  originality,  and  herself  wrote  a  lengthy  address,  ''  To  the 
Reader,"  repudiating  these  charges.  There  are  numerous  other 
introductions  set  before  the  work  and  a  dedication  ''To  the 
Two  Universities,"  as  they  ought  to  encourage  any  idealistic 
movement  for  the  emancipation  of  women,  ''  lest  in  time  we 
should  grow  irrational  idiots  ...  for  we  are  kept  like  birds  in 
cages  to  hop  up  and  down  in  our  houses,  not  suffered  to  fly 
abroad  to  see  the  several  changes  of  fortune,  and  the  vari- 
ous humours,  ordained  and  created  by  nature ;  thus  wanting 
the  experiences  of  nature,  we  must  needs  want  the  under- 
standing and  knowledge  and  so  consequently  prudence,  and 
invention  of  men."^ 

The  difference  in  emphasis  between  Part  I  of  Poems  and 
Fancies  and  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions  may  be  seen 
at  a  glance ;  for  the  earlier  interest  centers  in  what  kinds  of 
atoms  compose  diverse  elements, 

The  Square  flat  Atomes  as  dull  Earth  appeare, 
The  Atomes  Round  do  make  the  Water  cleere. 
The  Long  streight  Atomes  like  to  Arrowes  fly, 


1  Rhys  (p.  xviii)  supposes  "  she  had  read  and  pondered  "  Hobbes's  De- 
cameron Physiologicum,  which  did  not  appear  until  1678,  five  years  after  her 
death.  If  Hobbes's  basic  theory  of  motion,  as  fully  expounded  in  his  De 
Corpore  (Latin  Works,  Vol.  I),  did  have  any  influence  on  the  Duchess,  it  was 
of  the  slightest,  and  entirely  unknown  to  herself.  Even  so,  her  imaginative 
extension  of  this  germinal  principle  justifies  her  claim  to  originality. 

*  "  To  the  Two  Universities." 


I88  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Mount  next  the  points  and  make  the  Aiery  Skie ; 
The  Sharpest  Atomes  do  into  Fire  turne, 
Which  by  their  piercing  quality  they  burne.^ 

In  the  later  book  the  first  heading  is  ''Of  Matter  and  Motion," 
which,  directed  by  figure,  form  Nature.  Matter  is  infinite, 
the  Duchess  claims,  and  its  changed  form  is  only  motion, 
external  or  internal,  working  upon  it :  ^ 

Motions  do  work  according  as  they  finde 
Matter  that 's  fit  and  proper  for  each  kinde. 

All  of  which  are  possible  improbabilities  accounting  for  the 
never-ending,  inexplicable  mystery  of  life.  It  should  be  borne 
in  mind,  here,  at  the  outset  of  any  discussion  concerning  the 
Duchess's  scientific  views,  that  there  is  nothing  essentially 
impossible  about  them,  for  they  do  not  run  counter  to  estab- 
lished principles.  At  the  same  time  they  are  not  in  the  least 
scientific,  because  they  are  not  based  upon  observation  and 
experimentation ;  their  connection  with  recorded  fact  is  of  the 
slightest  and  comes  entirely  from  second-hand  experience.^ 
The  Duke  in  common  with  many  men  of  his  day  felt  a  genu- 
ine interest  in  scientific  investigation,  but  the  feminine  mind 
of  his  wife  could  grasp  only  the  external  trappings  of  such 
research.  For  this  lack  of  rational  power  she  unconsciously 
substituted  an  overactive  imagination  but  wisely  did  not  dis- 
pute what  had  been  already  established  by  proof.  Instead,  she 
began  where  others  left  off,   and,   her   fancy  soaring  above 

1 "  The  four  principall  figur'd  Atomes  make  the  foure  Elements  as  Square, 
Round,  Long  and  Sharpe,"  in  Poems  and  Fancies,  Part  I. 

2  "  Of  the  Working  of  several  Motions  of  Nature,"  §  32  in  Philosophical 
and  Physical  Opinions,  1655. 

«  It  is  illuminating  to  compare  the  Duchess's  lack  of  scientific  procedure 
with  Francis  Bacon's  superfluity  of  it.  In  the  second  book  of  the  Novum 
Organum  he  exemplifies  his  methods  in  proving  a  thesis  not  unallied  to  the 
Duchess's  :  that  heat  is  a  special  case  of  motion.  Even  so  much  particularity 
in  such  a  limited  field,  however,  did  not  attain  the  whole  truth  and  nothing 
but  the  truth.   See  Works  of  Bacon,  ed.  Spedding,  Ellis,  and  Heath,  I,  225-365. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  189 

mundane  things,  attempted  to  pierce  beyond  human  knowledge. 
Her  system  does  not  explain  the  laws  that  govern  our  being, 
nor  does  it  offer  a  solution  for  the  problem  of  existence.  It 
chooses  a  middle  course,  in  professing  to  reveal  the  machinery 
by  which  God  rules  his  universe. 

Part  II  of  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions  treats  "  Of 
Fortune,"  that  is  to  say  of  Nature,  with  renewed  emphasis 
on  the  subject  of  motions :  attraction,  contraction,  retention, 
and  the  like.  Part  III  continues  in  the  same  strain  to  show 
how  motion  may  change  one  element  into  another,  without 
any  intrinsic  shift  of  matter.  Now  the  Duchess  is  so  near 
scientific  truth  as  to  assert  that  colors  are  broken  lines  of 
light  from  the  sun ;  ^  and  again,  she  fantastically  declares 
that  tides  are  due  to  the  extension  of  individual  drops  in  the 
ocean.2  **  Of  the  Motion  of  the  Bodie,"  Part  IV,  explains 
the  two  kinds  of  movable  innate  matter,  rational  and  sensi- 
tive, standing  for  mind  and  body  respectively.  The  last  part, 
"The  Natural  Wars  in  Animal  Figures,"  takes  up  various 
diseases  2  on  the  basis  of  those  unnatural  motions  that  are 
supposed  to  cause  them  and  suggests  remedies  calculated  to 
restore  a  normal  condition  in  the  human  system.  Thus  con- 
sumptions are  said  to  be  the  result  of  unnatural  expulsions ;  ^ 
palsies,  of  supernatural  extenuation  of  the  nerves ;  ^  pain  in 
general,  of  cross  or  jumbling  motions.^  Finally,  the  impor- 
tance of  a  proper  correspondence  between  outward  objects 
and  inward  motions,  whether  sensitive  or  rational,  is  insisted 
upon  as  necessary  for  all  health  and  sanity."^ 


1  §  120.  2  §§  127-128. 

*  "  But  would  you  know  how  we  know  the  great  Mystery  of  these  Physical 
terms,  I  am  almost  ashamed  tp  tell  you ;  not  that  we  have  been  ever  sickly, 
but  by  Melancholy  often  supposed  ourselves  to  have  such  diseases  as  we 
have  not."  —  Newcastle's  "  Epistle  to  Justifie  the  Lady  Newcastle,"  prefixed 
to  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions^  1655. 

*§i9i-  ^§195-  «§I7I.  7  §§204-206. 


I90  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Then  at  the  end  of  this  strange  book  its  author  definitely 
states  that  all  her  ideas  are  merely  the  working  out  of  infinite 
deity  in  terms  of  infinite  matter  and  motion.  Section  210, 
"The  Diatical  Centers,"  is  an  expression  of  the  Duchess's 
broad,  if  vague,  religious  belief,  summed  up  in  the  last 
sentence : 

And  though  nature  is  infinite  matter,  motion  and  figure  creating  all 
things  out  of  its  self,  for  of  matter  they  are  made,  and  by  motion  they 
are  formed  into  several  and  particular  figures,  yet  this  Deity  orders 
and  disposes  of  all  natures  works. 

This  creed  is  further  formulated  in  a  rhymed  address  to  the 

Divinity : 

Great  God,  from  Thee  all  infinites  do  flow ; 

And  by  thy  power  from  thence  effects  do  grow ; 

Thou  orderest  all  degrees  of  matter,  just 

As  tis  thy  will  and  pleasure  move  it  must, 

And  by  thy  knowledge  order'st  all  the  best. 

For  in  thy  knowledge  doth  thy  wisdom  rest ; 

And  wisdom  cannot  order  things  amiss, 

For  where  disorder  is,  no  wisdom  is. 

Besides,  great  God,  thy  will  is  just,  for  why.? 

Thy  will  still  on  thy  wisdom  doth  rely. 

O  pardon  Lord,  for  what,  I  now  hear  speak 

Upon  a  guesse  my  knowledge  is  but  weak ; 

But  thou  hast  made  such  creatures  as  mankinde 

And  gav'st  them  somthing  which  we  cal  a  mind, 

Alwayes  in  motion,  never  quiet  lies 

Untill  the  figure,  of  his  body  dies, 

His  several  thoughts,  which  several  motions  are 

Do  raise  up  love,  hope,  joyes,  doubts  and  fear ; 

As  love  doth  raise  up  hope,  so  fear  doth  doubt 

Which  makes  him  seek  to  find  the  great  God  out : 

Selflove  doth  make  him  seek  to  finde,  if  he 

Came  from,  or  shall  last  to  eternity. 

But  motion  being  slow,  makes  knowledge  weak, 

And  then  his  thoughts  'gainst  ignorance  doth  beat, 

As  fluid  waters  'gainst  hard  rocks  do  flow, 

Break  their  soft  streams,  and  so  they  backward  go : 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  191 

Just  so  do  thoughts,  and  then  they  backward  slide, 
Unto  the  place,  where  first  they  did  abide ; 
And  there  in  gentle  murmurs,  do  complain, 
That  all  their  care  and  labour  is  in  vain ; 
But  since  none  knows,  the  great  Creator  must, 
Man  seek  no  more,  but  in  his  greatness  trust. 

The  same  thought  occurs  in  '*An  Epistle  to  the  Reader" 
prefixed  to  the  1663  revision  of  this  book,  in  condemning  any 
presumptuous  attempt  to  prove  there  is  a  God : 

Men  cannot  Prove,  what  they  cannot  possibly  know,  for  God  hath 
not  given  any  one  Creature  nor  All  Creatures,  were  they  Joyned  into 
One,  a  Sufficiency  to  Know  him,  and  since  God  is  so  much  Above 
Nature,  or  Natural  Matter,  as  I  a  Single  Creature  cannot  Guess  at 
Him,  I  will  not  Dispute  on  Him,  but  Pray  to  that  Incomprehensible 
and  Inexpressible  Deity,  to  Favour  me  with  that  which  is  Best 
for  me. 

These  passages  are  especially  worth  noting,  as  it  has  been 
on  several  occasions^  remarked  that  the  Duchess  lacked  true 
religious  feeling.  Her  belief  was  perhaps  neither  supremely 
intellectual  nor  ecstatically  devout,  but  it  was  sincere  and  it 
was  not  narrow.  Moreover,  it  seems  to  have  been  ever  present 
in  the  background  of  her  consciousness. 

The  second  edition  of  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions 
varies  so  much  from  the  original  one  as  to  demand  special 
consideration.  Parts  I,  II,  and  III  cover  the  same  ground  as 
Part  I  in  the  earlier  volume,  a  distinction  being  made  between 
animate  and  inanimate  matter,  the  latter  a  medium  through 
which  the  sensitive  animate  matter  works.  Further  emphasis 
too  is  laid  upon  man  as  a  specific  figure,  and  his  motions  are 
particularly  examined.  Parts  IV-VII  amplify  Parts  II-V  of 
the  1655  volume,  treating  each  division  in  far  greater  detail. 
The   list    of   sicknesses   with   their    remedies    has    increased 

^  The  Cavalier  and  his  Lady,  ed.  Jenkins,  p.  126,  n. ;  and  Mont^ gut's  Z« 
Duchesse  et  le  Due  de  Newcastle^  pp.  335-339. 


192  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

exceedingly,  and  in  the  chapter  on  fluxes  we  get  a  personal 
reminiscence  combined  with  the  prescription :  ^ 

In  all  sorts  or  degrees  of  Fluxes  there  is  nothing  better  than  Lauda- 
num, such  as  is  prepared  by  Doctor  Davidson's  Prescription ;  the 
Quantity  must  be  from  One  Grain  to  Two  or  Three,  but  above  Four 
must  not  be  taken,  and  to  put  it  in  a  Small  Pill  of  Bread  and  so 
Swallow  it  down;  the  time  of  Taking  is,  when  the  Patient  goes  to 
sleep,  but  the  patient  must  not  Eat  nor  Drink  in  Three  Hours  before 
taking  of  it,  and  when  taken,  lie  still  to  Rest ;  as  for  this  Laudanum  I 
have  had  Experience,  for  when  I  was  in  France  with  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, I  had  Died  of  a  Purging  Flux  if  I  had  not  taken  Doctor  Davidson's 
Laudanum  and  he  gave  it  to  me  every  Night  for  a  week  together. 

What  the  Duke  thought  of  his  wife's  scientific  views  may 
be  gathered  from  *'  His  Opinion  concerning  the  Ground  of 
Natural  Philosophy"  at  the  end  of  her  book.  As  we  have 
seen  in  his  relations  with  Hobbes,  Newcastle  had  a  real  knowl- 
edge of  physics,  so  that  he  must  have  been  gently  poking  fun 
at  the  Duchess's  theory  of  "  motion  "  when  he  wrote : 

Since  now  it  is  A-la-mode  to  Write  of  Natural  Philosophy,  and  I 
know,  no  body  Knows  what  is  the  Cause  of  any  thing,  and  since  they 
are  all  but  Guessers,  not  Knowing,  it  gives  every  Man  room  to  Think 
what  he  lists,  and  so  I  mean  to  Set  up  for  my  self,  and  play  at  this 
Philosophical  Game  as  follows,  without  Patching  or  Stealing  from  any 
Body.  They  talk  that  Motion  doth  every  thing,  I  grant  it,  but  this 
Motion  must  be  from  Some-thing.  They  say.  This  Motion  and  Spirit 
was  put  in  at  the  Creation  of  the  World  .  .  .  Why,  then,  thus  for 
my  Opinion  That  Salt  is  the  Life  that  giveth  the  Motion  to  all  things 
in  the  World. 

He  goes  on  to  describe  an  experiment  in  which  saltpetre  and 
inflamed  brimstone  appeared  just  like  the  sun,  and  concludes : 

This  is  my  Opinion,  which  I  think  can  as  hardly  be  Disproved  as 

f        Proved  since  any  Opinion  may  be  Right  or  Wrong,  for  anything  that 

anybody  knows,  for  certainly  there  is  none  can  make  a  Mathematical 

Demonstration  of  Natural  Philosophy,  and  so  I  leave  it  to  the  Mercy 

of  my  Readers. 

1  Edition  of  1663,  Part  VII,  §  43. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  193 

The  Duchess  could  hardly  have  perceived  her  husband's  irony 
here;  indeed,  she  seems  to  have  been  completely  lacking  in 
a  sense  of  humor.  Otherwise  she  would  not  have  admitted 
this  address  into  a  work  which  she  regarded  with  such  lofty 
seriousness.    She  even  writes  concerning  it : 

Of  all  my  Works,  this  Work  which  I  have  Writ, 
My  Best  Belov'd  and  Greatest  Favorite, 
I  look  upon  it  with  a  Pleasing  Eye, 
I  Pleasure  take  in  its  Sweet  Company ; 
I  Entertain  it  with  a  Grave  Respect, 
And  with  my  Pen  am  ready  to  Protect, 
The  Life  and  Safety  of  it  'gainst  all  those. 
That  will  Oppose  it,  or  Profess  it  Foes : 
But  I  am  sure,  there 's  none  Condemn  it  can. 
Unless  some  Foolish  and  Unlearned  Man, 
That  hath  no  Understanding,  Judgment,  Wit, 
For  to  perceive  the  Reason  that 's  in  it. 

The  Opinions  were  issued  again  in  1668  under  another  title, 
Grounds  of  Natural  Philosophy  Divided  into  Thirteen  Parts  : 
with  an  Appendix  containing  Five  Parts,  The  Second  Edi- 
tion^ much  altered  from  the  first  which  went  under  the  Name 
of  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions^  and  with  a  compre- 
hensive dedication,  "To  all  the  Universities  in  Europe."  The 
alterations  are  extended  enough  to  justify  a  change  in  title  for 
the  work,  although  there  are  few  new  ideas  expressed  in  it; 
rearrangements  and  amplifications  make  up  the  most  radical 
differences.  After  a  general  statement  of  her  system  (Part  I), 
the  Duchess  passes  to  a  consideration  of  creatures  (Part  II), 
and  so  to  productions  (Parts  III  and  IV).  That  brings  her  to 
man  (Part  V)  and  his  motions  (Part  VI),  notably  sleeping  or 
waking  (Part  VII),  together  with  irregular  sicknesses  (Parts 
VIII-X).  The  marked  diversity  in  creatures  (Part  XI)  sug- 
gests a  discussion  of  elements  (Part  XII),  of  metals,  and  of 
vegetables  (Part  XIII).    It  may  be  seen  that  our  authoress  has 


194  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

attacked  her  material  from  a  novel  angle,  but  the  results  she 
obtains  are  almost  identical  with  her  previously  published 
judgments. 

Part  I  of  the  Appendix  deals  with  Immaterial  and  Materials, 
that  is,  God  and  Nature ;  Parts  II-IV  consist  in  an  argument 
between  parts  of  the  mind  about  regular  and  irregular  worlds. 
These  latter  terms  are  found  to  be  synonymous  with  happy 
and  miserable  worlds,  which  the  Duchess  discusses  at  some 
length.  Part  V,  "Concerning  Restoring-beds  or  Wombs, "^ 
shows  how  firmly  her  imagination  had  seized  upon  the  subject 
of  reproduction,  no  doubt  because  of  that  problem's  basic  im- 
portance and  its  absolute  inexplicability.  The  theory  of  a  con- 
tinuous mobile  existence  for  matter  is  fantastically  set  forth :  ^ 

The  last  Conception  of  my  Mind,  concerning  Restoring-Beds  was, 
That  the  Parts  of  my  Mind  did  conceive,  That  the  Center  of  the 
whole  Universe,  was  the  Sea,  and  in  the  Center  of  the  Sea  was  a 
small  Island ;  and  in  the  Center  of  the  Island,  was  a  Creature,  like  (in 
the  outward  Form)  to  a  great  and  high  Rock :  Not  that  this  Rock  was 
Stone ;  but,  it  was  of  such  a  nature,  (by  the  natural  Compositions  of 
Parts)  that  it  was  compounded  of  Parts  of  all  the  principal  Kinds  and 
Sorts  of  the  Creatures  of  this  World,  viz.  Of  Elemental,  Animal, 
Mineral  and  Vegetable  kinds :  and,  being  of  such  a  nature,  did  pro- 
duce out  of  it  self,  all  kinds  and  sorts  of  Restoring-Beds  .  .  .  nor  can 
they  produce  new  Creatures,  but  only  restore  former  Creatures ;  as, 
those  that  had  been  Produced,  and  were  partly  Dissolved. 

Truly  the  Duchess's  muse  knew  no  bounds,  and  she  might 
have  gone  on  spinning  fancies  around  her  philosophy  to  the 
end  of  the  chapter.  Each  time  she  revised  a  book  its  bulk 
was  sure  to  increase,  usually  with  a  corresponding  loss  in  artistic 
value.  Little  harm  was  done  to  these  pseudo-scientific  works, 
however,  as  at  their  best  they  are  of  slight  literary  importance 
except  as  revealing  the  quality  of  our  authoress's  mind  and 
art.    She  was  not  even  content  with  the  numerous  mediocre 

1  Pp.  291-309.  2  pp,  308-309. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  195 

variations  upon  her  Opinions  but  must  needs  produce  more 
works  to  set  forth  still  other  aspects  of  the  physical  system 
she  had  created. 

Such  was  the  Philosophical  Letters:  or  modest  Reflections 
Up07i  some  Opiniotis  in  Nattiral  Philosophy ^  maintained  by 
several  Famous  and  Learned  AiUhors  of  this  Age^  Expressed 
by  way  of  Letters y  printed  at  London  in  1664.  In  "  A  Preface 
to  the  Reader,"  the  Duchess  states  that  she  has  read  much  of 
certain  scientific  writers  lately  and  now  better  understands  the 
technical  terms  than  she  did  before,  ''  for  my  error  was  I  began 
to  write  so  early,  that  I  had  not  liv'd  so  long  as  to  be  able  to 
read  many  Authors ;  I  cannot  say  I  divulged  my  opinions  as 
soon  as  I  had  conceiv'd  them,  but  I  divulg'd  them  too  soon 
to  have  them  artificial  and  methodical."  She  admits  her  weak- 
nesses but  dislikes  having  concessions  made  because  of  her  sex  : 

I  have  been  informed,  that  if  I  should  be  answered  in  my  Writings, 
it  would  be  done  rather  under  the  name  and  cover  of  a  Woman,  than 
of  a  Man,  the  reason  is,  because  no  man  dare  or  will  set  his  name  to 
the  contradiction  of  a  Lady;  and  to  confirm  you  the  better  herein, 
there  has  one  Chapter  of  my  Book  called  The  World's  Olio,  treating 
of  a  Monastical  Life,  been  answer'd  already  in  a  Uttle  Pamphlet, 
under  the  name  of  a  woman,  although  she  did  little  towards  it; 
wherefore  it  being  a  Hermaphroditical  Book,  I  judged  it  not  worthy 
taking  notice  of. 

The  distinguishing  feature  of  the  Duchess's  volume  is  its 
form  —  that  of  letters  to  a  supposed  lady  who  has  sent  the 
authoress  the  works  of  Hobbes,  Descartes,  Dr.  More,  and  Van 
Helmont,  asking  her  opinion  of  their  writings.  In  Section  I  she 
takes  up  Hobbes's  Leviathan  and  Elements  of  Philosophy, 
with  that  part  of  Descartes  which  had  been  translated  for  her ;  ^ 
Section  II  deals  with  Dr.  More's  Antidote  and  Of  the  Immor- 
tality of  the  Soul)  Section  III  is  given  over  to  Van  Helmont. 

^  See  "A  Preface  to  the  Reader,"  where  she  states  her  ignorance  of  any 
languages  other  than  her  native  tongue. 


196  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Each  author  is  considered  only  in  so  far  as  he  disagrees  with 
the  Duchess's  theories,  the  passages  discussed  are  chosen  quite 
arbitrarily,  and  the  whole  plan  simmers  down  into  one  more 
statement  of  the  Opinions.  Section  IV  in  fact  leaves  actual 
authors  behind  and  ventures  into  whatever  fields  appear  most 
tempting.  One  or  two  matters  of  detail  are  worked  out  more 
fully  than  in  the  earlier  volumes,  and  some  few  terms  are 
changed.  ''  Matter  "  is  no  more  to  be  called  "  spirits  "  as  it 
was  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Opinions}  while  *' animate 
matter,"  which  with  inanimate  matter  makes  up  Nature,  is  for 
the  future  '*  corporeal  self-motion."  2  ''  Perception  "  is  defined 
as  "sensation,"  the  working  of  sensitive  animate  matter .^ 
Generally  this  matter  copies  outward  objects  in  the  body's 
inanimate  matter  but  occasionally  moves  in  itself  without  pat- 
terns.^ Yet  the  other  division  of  animate  matter,  the  rational, 
always  works  in  its  own  essence  and  more  often  with  no  pat- 
terns.^ The  Deity,  it  is  again  asserted,  is  beyond  human  com- 
prehension:^ "Oh!  the  audacious  curiosity  of  Man!  Is  it 
not  blasphemy  to  make  the  Infinite  God  of  a  frail  and  human 
shape,  and  to  compare  the  most  Holy  to  a  sinful  Creature  ? " 
Philosophical  Letters  was  dedicated  to  the  University  of 
Cambridge,  as  was  the  Duchess's  remaining  scientific  book. 
Observations  upon  Experimental  Philosophy ^  printed  first  in 
1666,  and  again  in  1668.  As  usual  there  are  numerous  intro- 
ductory epistles  before  this  work,  of  which  the  most  striking 
is  a  dialogue  between  two  speakers,  headed  "An  Argumental 
Discourse  Concerning  some  Principal  Subjects  in  Natural 
Philosophy ;  necessary  for  the  better  understanding,  not  onely 

1  Section  II,  Letter  XXXIV,  and  Section  III,  Letter  XVI. 

2  Section  IV,  Letter  XXXIII. 

3  Section  II,  Letter  XVI. 

4  Section  I,  Letter  IV,  and  Section  IV,  Letter  XXIX. 
6  Section  I,  Letter  VII. 

6  Section  III,  Letter  XXII. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  197 

of  this  but  all  other  Philosophical  Works,  hitherto  written  by 
the  Authoresse."  It  contains  a  simile  well  calculated  to  im- 
press the  Duchess's  system  on  the  reader,  when  the  rational 
part  is  likened  to  an  architect,  the  sensitive  to  workmen,  and 
the  inanimate  to  their  material.  As  may  be  gathered  from  its 
tide,  this  volume  was  apparently  intended  to  approach  the  sub- 
ject from  a  truly  scientific  point  of  view.  In  the  "  Observations  " 
proper  there  are  abundant  references  to  magnifying  glasses,^ 
the  loadstone,^  to  seeds  ^  and  telescopes,*  but  by  the  time  "  Fur- 
ther Observations"  are  reached  the  author  is  pleading  for  more 
contemplation  and  less  experimentation  in  science.^  Then  fol- 
low certain  '*  Observations  upon  the  Opinions  of  some  Ancient 
Philosophers"  treated  in  much  the  same  manner  as  those 
modern  arguments  she  had  discussed  in  the  Letters.  Finally, 
'*An  Explanation  of  Some  obscure  and  doubtful  passages 
occurring  in  the  Philosophical  Works,  hitherto  published  by 
the  Authoresse,"  gives  ''  matter  "  its  latest  name  of  ''  corporeal 
figurative  motion."  Inanimate  matter  is  said  to  have  life  and 
self-knowledge  according  to  its  nature,  but  no  self-motion,  that 
depending  on  the  animate  matter  working  through  it.  "Sense" 
is  interpreted  as  '*life,"  and  ''reason"  as  ''knowledge,"  but 
there  are  practically  no  important  deviations  from  the  system 
as  originally  propounded. 

The  vogue  of  these  so-called  philosophical  books  has,  need- 
less to  say,  been  extremely  restricted.  They  are  valueless  from 
a  scientific  point  of  view  but  crowded  with  all  the  meticulous 
detail  demanded  by  that  branch  of  human  knowledge.  The 
fantasy  in  them  is  in  such  small  proportion  to  their  vast  bulk 
as  to  be  scarcely  worth  the  search.  Their  general  style  is  so 
redundant  and  complicated  that  one  can  understand  it  only 

M3-  M6.  8§i5.  4§34. 

*  §  I.  She  also  quotes  from  Poems  and  Fancies^  whence  her  system  arose, 
§  8.    She  did  this  too  in  Philosophical  Letters,  Section  IV,  Letter  IX. 


198  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

with  great  labor  and  effort.  It  is  no  wonder  that  James  Bristow 
of  Christ  Church  College,  Oxford,  did  not  get  far  in  translat- 
ing these  volumes  into  Latin.  He  began  ''upon  a  desire  of 
those  whom  she  had  appointed  to  inquire  out  a  fit  person  for 
such  a  matter  ;  ^  but  he  finding  great  difficulties  therein  through 
the  confusedness  of  the  matter,  gave  over."^  The  world  is  no 
whit  the  poorer  for  his  failure,  as  it  conceivably  might  be  with- 
out the  original  versions.  Certainly  they  are  unique  and  on 
that  score  alone  are  worthy  to  be  preserved.  Likewise  they 
help  to  reveal  the  Duchess's  eccentric  personality  and  fantastic 
imagination,  although  fanciful  science  is  a  paradoxical  form  of 
art  not  deserving  extensive  cultivation. 


II 

THE  WORLD'S  OLIO  (1655)  AND  NATURE'S  PICTURES (16S6) 

The  World's  Olio,  as  has  been  seen,  was  composed  for  the 
most  part  in  1649,  but  was  not  published  until  1655.  ''Most 
of  this  Book  was  written  five  years  since,"  it  tells  us,^  "and 
was  lock'd  up  in  a  Trunk,  as  if  it  had  been  buried  in  a  Grave ; 
but  when  I  came  back  from  England,  I  gave  it  a  Resurrec- 
tion :  After  a  view,  I  judged  it  not  so  well  done,  but  that  a 
little  more  care  might  have  placed  the  words  so,  that  the  Lan- 
guage might  have  run  smoother,  which  would  have  given  the 
Sense  a  greater  lustre ;  but  I  being  of  a  lazie  disposition,  did 
chuse  to  let  it  go  into  the  World  with  its  Defects,  rather  than 

^  Jasper  Mayne  undertook  to  find  a  translator.  See  his  letter  of  May  20, 1663, 
in  the  1676  volume  of  Letters  and  Poems  to  the  Duchess. 

2  Wood's  AthencB^  Vol.  II,  Col.  160.  Also  John  Harmar  latinized  "one  or 
more  of  the  plays  of  Margaret  dutchess  of  Newcastle  for  which  he  was  well 
rewarded."  —  Wood,  III,  920. 

*  This  sentence  may  very  likely  have  been  composed  the  year  before  its 
appearance,  which  would  make  the  statement  quite  correct. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  199 

take  the  pains  to  refine  it."  ^  The  Duchess  dedicates  this 
volume  to  Fortune,  explaining  to  her  husband,^  *'  that  when  I 
have  writ  all  I  mean  to  print,  I  intend  (if  I  live)  to  Dedicate 
all  my  Works  together  unto  you."  To  Sir  Charles  Cavendish 
she  offers  "  payments  of  Prayers  "  ^  for  his  earlier  generosity 
and  in  another  foreword  begs  that  whoever  reads  this  book 
aloud  will  carefully  articulate  its  words  .^  "  The  Preface " 
proper  excuses  her  deficiencies  on  the  ground  that  "  Nature 
hath  made  Man's  Body  more  able  to  endure  Labour,  and 
Man's  Brain  more  clear  to  understand  and  contrive,  than 
those  of  Women  ;  and  as  great  a  difference  there  is  between 
them,  as  there  is  between  the  longest  and  strongest  Willow, 
compared  to  the  strongest  and  largest  Oak."  She  goes  on  to 
say  that  some  women  have  complained  because  they  do  not 
receive  education,^  but  those  that  have  been  instructed  turn 
out  no  better  than  the  others ;  they  can  only  work  "like  Apes, 
by  Imitation."  Finally,  too  much  freedom  is  dangerous  for 
women,  so  that  nature  has  given  man  strength  to  govern  the 
weaker  sex. 

The  Olio^  itself  lives  up  to  its  name,  but  the  numerous 
short  sections,  although  individually  unrelated,  when  taken 
one  after   another    trace   their  authoress's   train   of   thought. 


1  "  Advertisement  to  the  Reader." 

2  "To  his  Grace  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,"  in  1671  edition. 

8  "  An  Epistle  that  was  writ  before  the  death  of  the  Noble  Sir  Charles 
Cavendish,  my  most  Noble  Brother  in  law,"  in  the  1671  edition. 

*  Sociable  Letter  CLXXIII  also  takes  up  at  some  length  the  importance 
and  difficulty  of  oral  reading. 

s  This  may  refer  to  herself,  for  in  "  To  the  Universities,"  prefixed  to  the 
1655  edition  of  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions,  she  strongly  urges  that 
further  opportunities  be  granted  to  women.  The  truth  seems  to  be  that  the 
Duchess's  conviction  and  desire  were  at  odds  over  this  point. 

*  In  1657  S.  Du  Verger  published  Humble  Reflections  Upon  some  Passages 
of  the  Right  Honorable  the  Lady  Marchionesse  of  Newcastle's  Olio.  Or  An 
Appeale  from  her  mesinformed  to  her  own  better  informed  iudgement.  See 
Hazlitt's  Collections  and  Notes,  Third  Series,  1887,  p.  21. 


200  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

No  general  unity  binds  them  together,  yet  each  is  connected 
in  idea  with  the  preceding  paragraph,  however  foreign  it  may 
be  to  the  preceding  page.  The  result  is  a  string  of  observa- 
tions which  might  have  been  arranged  in  an  artistic  pattern, 
but,  as  so  often  with  the  Duchess,  nature  here  completely  domi- 
neers over  art.  Book  I,  Part  I,  expatiates  on  fame,  whence 
it  logically  passes  to  writings  of  various  kinds,  then  proceeding 
to  translation,  languages,  discourses,  wisdom,  music,  and  inven- 
tion. Part  II  condemns  excesses  in  gluttony  or  asceticism, 
dilates  upon  passion's  power  over  mankind,  and  insists  that 
one's  mind  should  rule  one's  body.  Part  III  commences  with 
diplomacy  and  wars  but  soon  enters  upon  analysis  of  human 
nature.  An  interesting  section,  "  Of  the  Breeding  of  Chil- 
dren," ^  advises  parents  not  to  permit  baby  talk,  such  as 
^'do,  do"  for  ^^go,"  "tum"  for  "come,"  or  ''My  Chid  tant 
open  its  Nies  "  instead  of  ''  My  Child  cannot  open  its  Eyes." 
The  Duchess  is  quite  modern  in  her  theories,  but  it  must  be 
remembered  that  there  was  no  chance  for  her  to  be  disillusion- 
ized in  practice.  She  felt  that  children  should  be  instructed, 
not  entertained  by  games  of  ''  Bo-peep,"  ''  Blind-man-buff,"  or 
''  Cocks-hod,"  in  which  they ''  hide  themselves  behind  Hangings, 
and  old  Cupboards,  or  dirty  Holes,  or  the  like  places,  where 
they  foul  their  Clothes,  disaffect  the  Brain  with  stincks,  and 
are  almost  choak't  with  Dirt,  and  dusty  Cobwebs,  and  Spiders, 
Flyes,  and  the  like."^  Youth  and  age  receive  some  atten- 
tion, as  well  as  husbands  and  wives.  The  authoress  thinks 
that  marriages  of  interest  are  likely  to  be  more  happy  than 
those  of  fancy,  a  statement  which  is  not  without  personal  sig- 
nificance. She  supposes  indifferent  handsome  women  make 
the  best  wives  but  permits  them  to  paint  their  faces  for  at- 
tracting men,  except  widows,  who  ought  not  to  marry  again. 
Certain  cosmetics,  however,  are  dangerous,  disfiguring,  or 
1  Pp.  123-126.  2  p.  125. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  201 

sluttish,  "especially  in  the  Preparatives,  as  Masks  of  Sear- 
clothes,  which  are  not  only  horrid  to  look  upon,  in  that  they 
seem  as  Dead  Bodies  embalmed,  but  the  stink  is  offensive  .  .  . 
Oily  Drops  can  be  no  grace  to  their  Face.  Dry  Painting 
shrivels  up  the  skin  so,  that  it  imprints  Age  in  their  Face."  ^ 
Part  I  of  Book  II  is  made  up  of  fifty-eight  Allegories,  such 
as  Number  9  :  ^ 

The  World  is  a  Shop,  which  sells  all  manner  of  Commodities  to  the 
Soul  and  Senses :  The  Price  are  Good  Actions  and  Bad,  for  which 
they  have  Salvation  or  Damnation,  Peace  or  Warr,  Pleasure  or  Pain, 
Delight  or  Grief. 

Number  28  states  that  "Thoughts  are  like  Pan-cakes,  and  the 
Brain  is  the  Pan,  wherein  they  are  tossed  and  turned  by  the 
several  Objects,  as  by  several  Hands."  ^  Part  II  consists  of 
"Short  Essays,"  the  first  hundred  and  five  of  which  live  up 
to  their  designation.    Number  99,  for  instance,  reads :  ^ 

Our  natural  English  Tongue  was  significant  enough  without  the  help 
of  other  Languages;  but  as  we  have  Merchandized  for  Wares,  so 
have  we  done  for  Words ;  of  which  there  is  more  brought  in,  than 
carried  out. 

Numbers  107-122  are  sufficiently  long  to  have  particular  titles, 
but  their  worth  is  not  commensurate  with  their  bulk.  Part  III 
occupies  itself  with  describing  famous  characters  in  English  or 
classical  history.  Queen  Elizabeth  is  said  to  have  "clothed 
herself  in  a  Sheeps-Skin ;  yet  she  had  a  Lions  Paw,  and  a 
Fox's  Head;  she  stroked  the  Cheeks  of  her  Subjects  with 
Flattery,  while  she  pickt  their  Purses ;  and  though  she  seemed 
loath,  yet  she  never  failed  to  crush  to  death  those  that  dis- 
turbed her  way."  ^  That  is  keen  enough  writing  after  its 
kind,  but  many  such  fragments  do  not  constitute  a  work  of 
art.  The  Olio,  in  addition  to  its  authoress's  usual  faults, 
is  marred  by  immaturity  and  experimentation. 

1  p.  178.  «  P.  196.  »  P.  207.  *  p.  234.  6  p.  248. 


202  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Book  III,  Part  I,  treats  of  men  and  beasts,  their  passions 
and  appetites.  Love,  envy,  fear,  and  hate  are  severally 
taken  up,  while  afterwards  courage  is  differentiated  from 
valour :  the  former  follows  appetite,  the  latter  depends  upon 
"consideration."  Part  II  contains  a  rough  draft  of  the 
Duchess's  system  in  so  far  as  it  affects  the  elements.  Part  III 
opens  with  her  customary  review  of  diseases  and  their  reme- 
dies, mentions  royal  favorites,  and  then  comes  to  ''  The  Inven- 
tory of  Judgment's  Commonwealth ;  which  the  Author  cares 
not  in  what  World  it  is  Established."  Good  Hobbesian  prin- 
ciples underlie  this  government,  since  it  depends  upon  a  con- 
tract existing  between  king  and  people.  Striking  details  are 
that  the  monarch  shall  have  a  library  rather  than  a  collection 
of  knickknacks,^  and  that  there  shall  be  set  times  for  popular 
recreations.  Also,  ''If  a  Gentleman  must  or  will  have  a 
Whore,  let  him  have  one  of  his  own,  and  not  feed  upon 
Reversions  "  ;  ^  ''No  Husband  nor  Wife,  although  but  a  day 
married,  shall  kiss  each  other  in  publick,  lest  it  turn  the 
Spectators  from  a  lawful  wholsome  Appetite  of  Marriage,  to  a 
Gluttonous  Adultery ;  or  weaken  the  Appetite  so  much,  as  to 
cause  a  loathing  or  an  aversion  to  the  Wedlock-Bed  "  ;  ^  and 
Dancing  is  ''commendable  as  a  graceful  Art  in  Maids  or 
Batchelors ;  but  shall  be  accounted  an  Effeminacy  for  Married 
Men,  a  May-game  for  Old  Men,  and  a  Wanton-lightness  for 
Married  Women."  ^  Two  short,  irrelevant  sections  are  in- 
serted, "  Of  Noble  Souls  and  Strong  Bodies  "  and  "  Of  those 
that  steal  from  Books,"  after  which  the  Duchess  concludes^ 

iP.402.  2p,4o6.  8  P.  409.  *P.4I0. 

5  The  lines 

Of  all  my  Works,  this  Work  which  I  have  writ, 
My  best  Belov'd,  and  greatest  Favourite,  etc. 

follow,  but  in  "  To  the  Reader,"  prefixed  to  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opin- 
ions, 1655,  she  says  they  were  intended  for  that  book.  There  too  she  notices 
this  erroneous  intrusion  of  "  a  character  of  the  strength  of  the  soul  and  body." 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  203 

by  breaking  into  verse  anent  her  ideal  ruler :  ^ 

But  I  would  have  this  Monarchy  I  make, 

To  have  a  Judg  *  that  will  good  Counsel  take : 

One  that  is  wise  to  govern  and  to  see 

What  faults  to  mend,  and  what  the  Errors  bee : 

Making  the  Commonwealth  his  only  Minion, 

And  striving  to  enlarge  his  own  Dominion. 

*  I  call  the  Chief  Ruler  Judg  as  they  did  in  the  old  time. 

The  Worlcfs  Olio  was  reprinted  in  1671,2  and  the  same 
year  appeared  a  second  edition  of  Natures  Picture  Drawn  by 
Fancies  Pencil  to  the  Life,  Being  several  Feigned  Stories, 
Comical y  Tragical^  Tragi- comical.  Poetical,  Rom-ancical^  Philo- 
sophical, Historical,  and  Moral:  Some  in  Verse,  some  in  Prose  ; 
some  Mixt,  and  some  by  Dialogues.  The  first  edition  of  1656 
(some  copies  dated  1655)^  also  contained  A  True  Relation  of 
my  Birth,  Breeding  and  Life,  while  its  title  had  the  plural 
form,  Nature's  Pictures,  etc.  In  1671  it  is  preceded  by  an 
enniched  portrait  of  the  authoress^  and  by  some  laudatory 
lines  from   her  husband.     "The  Preface,"  after  announcing 

1  P.  420. 

2  It  is  this  edition  to  which  the  references  above  are  made- 

«  Charles  Lamb  using  this  word  of  certain  writers  adds  in  parenthesis  "  as 
dear  Margaret  Newcastle  would  call  them."  See  "  A  Complaint  of  the  Decay 
of  Beggars  in  the  Metropolis,"  jErjflf>/j  of  Elia,  p.  194.  Indeed,  the  redundancy 
of  this  formation  is  typical  of  the  Duchess's  style. 

*  The  article  on  Margaret  Cavendish,  first  Duchess  of  Newcastle,  in  Did. 
Nat.  Biog. 

*  Under  it  are  these  lines : 

Here  on  this  Figure  Cast  a  Glance, 

But  so  as  if  it  were  by  Chance, 

Your  eyes  not  fixt,  they  must  not  stay, 

Since  this  like  Shadowes  to  the  Day 

It  only  represents  ;  for  Still, 

Her  Beuty's  found  beyond  the  Skill 

Of  the  best  Paynter,  to  Imbrace 

Those  lovely  Lines,  within  her  face, 

View  her  Soul's  Picture,  Judgment,  witt, 

Then  read  those  Lines  which  She  hath  writt, 

By  Phancy's  Picture  drawne  alone 

Which  Peace  but  Shee,  Can  justly  owne. 


204  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

this  book's  moral  purpose,  tells  under  what  circumstances  it 
was  composed : 

As  I  was  writing,  by  a  little  fire, 

These  Feigned  Histories ;  I  did  desire 

To  see  my  Native  Country,  Native  Friends, 

That  lov'd  me  well,  and  had  no  other  ends 

Than  harmless  mirth  to  pass  away  dull  time, 

With  telling  Tales  either  in  Prose  or  Rime. 

But  though  Desire  did  then  like  a  Wind  blow 

The  Sails  of  Wishes  on  Love's  ship  to  go ; 

Yet  Banishment  to  my  dear  Lord,  was  then 

A  dangerous  Rock,  made  of  hard-hearted  men. 

And  hearing  of  such  dangers  in  my  way, 

I  was  content  in  Antwerp  for  to  stay ; 

And  in  the  circle  of  my  Brain  to  raise 

The  Figures  of  my  Friends  crowned  with  Praise. 

This  was  found  to  be  such  a  successful  method  of  procedure 
that  the  Duchess  invited  scholars  and  poets  also,  whom  she 
entertained  with  the  stories  that  follow. 

Those  in  Book  I  are  told  in  verse  and  are  connected  by  a 
scheme  roughly  analogous  to  that  of  the  Decameron  or  The 
Canterbury  Tales. 

In  winter  cold,  a  Company  was  met. 
Both  Men  and  Women  by  the  Fire  were  set ; 
At  last  they  did  agree  (to  pass  the  time) 
That  every  one  should  tell  a  Tale  in  Rhyme. 

Most  of  their  narrations  deal  with  love,  like  the  account  of  a 
mournful  widow,  an  easily  consoled  widower,  an  inconstant 
woman,  and  a  lover  that  deserts  his  pock-marked  mistress. 
"A  Description  of  Constancy  "  recounts  how  two  parted  lovers 
think  each  other  dead,  whereupon  the  man  becomes  a  hermit. 
The  woman  sings  dirges  over  his  supposed  grave,^  until  they 

1  In  the  British  Museum  copy  there  is  an  entry  in  the  Duchess's  hand- 
writing, "  These  songs  my  Lord  writ."  See  Everyman  edition  of  the  Life^ 
p.  XX.    Rhys  thinks  the  third  of  them  the  Duke's  highest  mark  in  verse. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  205 

are  united  by  a  benevolent  queen.  One  of  the  company  doubts 
that  such  steadfastness  often  exists  and  tries  to  prove  his 
point  by  a  similar  tale  with  a  tragic  ending.  Humanity,  De- 
spair, and  Jealousy  are  personified  by  another  man,  while  a 
merry  lass  tells  of  a  husband's  courting  his  wife's  maid.  One 
moralizer  states  that  students  rarely  can  talk  well ;  the  next 
romance  is  of  a  brave  stranger's  freeing  and  marrying  a  captive 
lady.  A  bachelor  expatiates  on  feminine  amorousness,  which 
in  old  age  becomes  spite : 

And  if  a  Lady  dress,  or  chance  to  wear 

A  Gown  to  please  her  self,  or  curl  her  Hair, 

If  not  according  as  the  Fashion  runs, 

Lord,  how  it  sets  a-work  their  Eyes  and  Tongues ! 

Straight  she 's  fantastical,  they  all  do  cry, 

Yet  they  will  imitate  her  presendy ; 

And  for  what  they  did  laugh  at  her  in  scorn, 

With  it  think  good  themselves  for  to  adorn. 

A  tragic  account  of  two  young  lovers  who  do  not  wait  for  the 
marriage  ceremony  intervenes,  followed  by  another  philosophical 
speech  in  praise  of  temperance.  Then  comes  an  argument 
over  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  wedlock,  the  various 
points  being  enforced  by  precept  or  example.  A  soldier  tells 
of  how  a  princess  falls  in  love  with  her  father's  slayer.  *'  The 
Surprisal  of  Death "  relates  the  sudden  end  of  a  lovely 
young  girl. 

To  these  rhymed  stories  Newcastle  likewise  contributed  two 
"  mock-tales  "  and  a  poem  called  '*  The  Philosopher's  Complaint." 
The  first  was  of  an  old  woman's  marriage  to  a  serving-man, 
the  second  about  an  inconstant  husband  who  is  deserted  by 
both  his  wives.  The  philosopher  laments  in  uninspired  stanzas 
that  men  have  so  many  more  responsibilities  than  beasts. 
Other  narratives  are  concerned  with  human  doubts,  foolish 
pride,  and  ill-advised  love.    One  man  compares  castles  in  the 


206  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

air  to  the  homes  of  spiders  or  silkworms,  which  he  describes 
with  particular  detail.  ''  The  Tale  of  the  Four  Seasons  of  the 
Year  "  ^  contains  as  successful  poetry  as  the  Duchess  achieves 
in  this  volume  :  ^ 

The  Spring  is  dress'd  in  buds  &  blossoms  sweet, 
And  Grass-green  Socks  she  draws  upon  her  feet. 
Of  freshest  air  a  Garment  she  cuts  out, 
With  painted  Tulips  fringed  round  about, 
And  lines  it  all  within  with  Violets  blew, 
And  yellow  Primrose  of  the  palest  hew  : 
Then  wears  an  Apron  made  of  Lillies  white, 
And  lac'd  about  it  is  with  Rays  of  Light. 

Finally  comes  '*  A  Description  of  Civil  Warrs,"  in  which  a  lady, 
evidently  Margaret  Cavendish  herself,  laments  that, 

My  Brother  then  was  murther'd  in  cold-blood, 
Incircled  round  with  Enemies  he  stood ; 


Vollies  of  Shot  did  all  his  Body  tear ; 

Where  his  blood 's  spilt,  the  Earth  no  Grace  will  bear, 

As  if,  for  to  revenge  his  Death,  the  Earth 

Was  curs'd  with  barrenness  ev'n  from  her  birth.* 

The  Second  Part  of  Natures  Picture  drops  from  poetry  to 
prose  and  gives  up  the  unified  setting  of  Part  L  These 
changes  permit  even  freer  rein  to  the  Duchess's  fancy,  which 
flies  off  in  every  possible  direction.  Men  and  women,  France 
and  England,  tobacco,  schools,  the  court,  one  and  all  are 
reviewed    under    the    name    of    story-telling.    *'  The    Vulgar 

1  Rhys  calls  it  "  a  piece  of  tapestry  in  verse  which  is  rare  and  fine."  — 
Everyman  edition  of  the  Life,  p.  xxi. 

2P.  lOI. 

8  Cf.  Evelyn,  II,  85,  when  on  July  8,  1656,  he  visited  Colchester:  "But 
what  was  shewed  us  as  a  kind  of  miracle  at  the  outside  of  the  Castle,  the  wall 
where  Sir  Cha.  Lucas  and  Sir  Geo.  Lisle,  those  valiant  and  noble  persons  who 
so  bravely  behav'd  themselves  in  the  last  siege,  were  barbarously  shot.  .  .  . 
The  place  was  bare  of  grass  for  a  large  space,  all  y^  rest  of  it  abounding 
with  herbage." 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  207 

Fights,"  ^  contrasting  unrest  at  home  and  in  the  street,  comes 
as  near  to  real  Hfe  as  any  of  these  short  paragraphs.  Marriage 
of  course  figures  largely,  with  neglect,  unfaithfulness,  ambition, 
or  greed  as  its  necessary  concomitants.  Metaphysical  subjects 
treated  are ' '  Love's  Cure, "  2  '  *  The  Propagating  Souls ' '  ^  (their  off- 
shoots are  meteors),  *'  The  Marriage  of  Life  and  Death,"  ^  and 
"Of  the  Indisposition  of  the  Mind."^  In  one  of  these  fantasies 
the  hero  arrives  at  the  center  of  the  earth,  where  "  he  saw  a 
light  like  Moonshine ;  of  which,  when  he  came  near,  he  saw 
that  the  first  Circle  about  the  Center,  was  Glow-worms  Tails, 
which  gave  that  Light ;  and  in  the  Center  was  an  old  man, 
who  did  neither  stand  nor  sit,  for  there  was  no  thing  to  stand 
or  sit  on  ;  but  he  hung  (as  it  were)  in  the  Air ;  nor  ever  stirr'd 
out  of  his  place ;  and  had  been  there  ever  since  the  World 
was  made ;  for  he,  having  never  had  a  Woman  to  tempt  him  to 
sin,  never  dyed."  ^  *'  The  Speculators  ""^  takes  its  title  from  three 
glasses  which  show  wonderful  happenings  in  the  firmament ;  a 
lady  preacher  comments  on  the  text,  "  In  the  Land  of  Poetry 
there  stands  a  steep  high  Mount  Named  Parnasus.  At  the  top 
issues  out  a  flame  which  ascends  unto  Fames  Mansion."  ^ 
There  are  three  "  moral  tales  "  of  an  ant  and  a  bee,  in  which 
the  bee  generally  comes  out  victorious,  since  it  has  a  monar- 
chical rather  than  a  republican  government.  Other  improving 
dialogues  are  held  between  a  woodcock  and  a  cow  on  the 
subject  of  wings,  between  a  butcher  and  a  fly,  a  man  and  a 
spider,  or  between  a  lady  and  several  interlocutors. 

The  first  long  story  in  this  book  is  *'  The  Contract,"  ^  and 
here  the  Duchess  enters  upon  the  domain  of  the  novel.  Her 
imagination  has  worked  up  a  simple  anecdote  into  sixty  pages 

1  Pp.  157-164.  <*P.253. 

2  Pp.  217-223.  "^  Pp.  259-267. 

8  Pp.  223-226.  8  Pp.  275-280. 

*  Pp.  23 1-234.  «  Pp.  32 1-389. 

6  Pp.  234-236. 


208  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

of  sustained  interest,  and  that  without  tradition  or  precedent. 
"The  Contract"  is  indisputably  a  romance,  but  in  the  late  seven- 
teenth century  extended  prose  romances  were  uncommon  in 
English  letters.  A  tale  like  this  could  have  exerted  little 
influence  upon  future  novelists,  but  it  demands  notice  amidst 
the  ferment  which  preceded  the  birth  of  a  new  form  of  art. 
Its  plot  revolves  around  a  Duke  who  breaks  the  betrothal  con- 
tract agreed  to  on  his  father's  deathbed.  He  marries  another 
lady  and  thereafter  meets  his  first  fiancee,  only  to  fall  deeply  in 
love  with  her;  at  last  all  obstacles  are  removed,  so  that  the 
happy  pair  may  be  united.  This  bare  outline  conveys  no  idea 
of  how  vividly  the  story  is  told,  since  its  characters  are  more 
than  the  puppets  customary  in  Margaret  Newcastle's  composi- 
tions. For  instance,  the  Duke's  servant  is  a  charming  person, 
and  a  parting  of  the  lovers  has  genuine  delicacy  in  feeling 
and  phrase :  ^ 

Heaven  direct  you  for  the  best,  said  she,  it  is  late.  Good  night. 

You  will  give  me  leave,  said  he,  to  kiss  your  hand  ? 

I  cannot  deny  my  Hand,  said  she,  to  him  that  hath  my  heart. 

The  climax  occurs  in  an  interview  in  which  the  Duke  forces 
his  rival,  the  pusillanimous  Viceroy,  to  abandon  all  claims  upon 
the  lady.  Their  quick,  staccato  utterance  makes  this  scene 
dramatically  alive  from  the  Viceroy's  first  line. 

And  what  is  your  Demand  ? 

My  Demand,  that  you  will  never  mary  her. 

How,  says  the  Vice-Roy?  Put  the  case  you  should  die,  you  will 
then  give  me  leave  to  marrie  her  ? 

No,  said  the  Duke;  I  love  her  too  well,  to  leave  a  possibility  of 
her  marrying  you. 

I  will  sooner  die,  than  set  my  hand  to  this,  said  the  Vice-Roy. 

If  you  do  not,  you  shall  die  a  violent  death,  by  Heaven,  answered 
he ;  and  more  than  that,  you  shall  set  your  hand  never  to  complain 
against  me  to  the  King :  Will  you  do  it  ?  or  will  you  not  ?  for  I  am 
desperate  said  the  Duke. 

ip.367. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  209 

The  Vice-Roy  said,  You  strike  the  King  in  striking  me. 

No  disputing,  says  he ;  set  your  hand  presently,  or  I  will  kill  you. 

Do  you  say.  You  are  desperate  ? 

Yes,  answered  he. 

Then  I  must  do  a  desperate  Act,  to  set  my  hand  to  a  Bond  I 
mean  to  break. 

Use  your  own  discretion,  to  that. 

Come,  said  he,  I  will  set  my  hand  before  I  read  it;  for  whatso- 
ever it  is,  it  must  be  done.^ 

Nor  is  the  dialogue  alone  to  be  commended,  for  the  heroine's 
old  uncle  "  was  so  pleased  to  see  his  Neece  admired,  that  as 
he  went  home,  he  did  nothing  but  sing  after  a  humming  way ; 
and  was  so  frolick,  as  if  he  were  returned  to  twenty  years  of 
age."  2 

"  The  Contract,"  marks  the  highest  point  in  Natures  Picture ^ 
for  those  stories  which  follow  it  are  of  much  less  value. 
**  The  Ambitious  Traitor "  ^  briefly  narrates  an  evil  coun- 
sellor's fall  and  execution.  ''Assaulted  and  Pursued  Chastity,"  ^ 
on  the  other  hand,  is  a  long-drawn  out  account  of  undeserved 
persecutions.  The  heroine,  variously  named  Miseriae,  Travelia, 
or  Affectionata,  endures  the  attentions  of  a  certain  married 
prince  in  the  kingdoms  of  Sensuality,  Fancy,  and  Amity.  The 
second  of  these  realms  offers  most  opportunity  to  the  Duchess's 
imagination,  so  that  it  receives  detailed  consideration.  Its  in- 
habitants were  "  of  a  deep  Purple,  their  Hair  as  white  as  Milk, 
and  like  Wool;  their  Lips  thin,  their  Ears  long,  their  Noses 
flat,  yet  sharp ;  their  Teeth  and  Nails  as  black  as  Jet,  and  as 
shining;  their  Stature  tall,  and  their  Proportion  big,"^  all 
except  the  royal  family,  who  differed  by  being  '*of  a  perfect 
Orange-colour,  their  Hair  coal-black,  their  Teeth  and  Nails  as 
white  as  Milk ;  of  a  very  great  height  but  well  shaped."  ^ 

1  Pp.  368-369.  »  Pp.  389-394.  6  P.  421. 

«P.347.  *  Pp.  394-514. 

*  P.  429.  Cf.  Tlte  Blazing  World,  where  there  are  complexions  of  azure, 
purple,  scarlet,  and  other  bright  colors. 


210  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Fish  are  closely  associated  with  these  people,  for  they  sacrifice 
fishes,  their  houses  are  built  of  fishbones  and  thatched  with 
fish  scales,  and  one  of  their  common  beasts  was  ''  half  Fish, 
half  Flesh."  Our  heroine  arrives  in  this  strange  land,  dis- 
guised as  a  boy  and  accompanied  by  an  old  sailor.  She  learns 
to  talk  like  the  inhabitants,  and  that  accomplishment,  together 
with  certain  pistols  which  her  friend  is  able  to  make,  persuades 
the  native  population  that  these  strangers  are  divine  messengers. 
They  do  not  use  their  new  power  for  personal  aggrandizement,^ 
but  to  reform  the  cannibalism  and  sexual  promiscuousness  ram- 
pant throughout  this  kingdom.  Travelia's  teaching  was  that 
*'  The  Gods  were  not  to  be  known  nor  comprehended ;  and 
that  all  they  have  discovered  of  themselves  to  their  Creatures, 
was  only  by  their  Works,  in  which  they  should  praise  them." 
''By  which  Doctrine,"  the  Duchess  adds,  ''they  were  brought 
to  be  a  civilized  people."  ^  Then  our  travellers  make  good  their 
escape  to  the  Queen  of  Amity,  who  falls  in  love  with  Travelia 
disguised  but  accepts  the  King  of  Amours  on  discovering  her 
inamorata's  sex.  Meanwhile  Travelia  has  conquered  Amours's 
forces  under  command  of  her  insistent  pursuer,  and  his  wife's 
accommodating  decease  clears  the  way  for  these  lovers  to  be 
united.  So  after  a  hundred  and  twenty  pages  the  Duchess, 
feeling  that  she  has  clearly  proved  her  point,  i.e.  that  young 
girls  ought  not  to  travel  about  unprotected,  brings  her  story  to 
a  haphazard  close,  which  might  have  resolved  all  difficulties  at 
any  previous  point  in  the  chronicle. 

"  The  Tale  of  a  Traveller "  begins  with  a  certain  young 
man's  birth  and  education  :  ^ 

After  he  came  to  ten  years  old,  or  thereabouts,  he  was  sent  to  a  Free- 
School,  where  the  noise  of  each  Scholar's  reading  aloud,  did  drown  the 
sense  of  what  they  read,  burying  the  Knowledge  and  Understanding 

1  Mr.  Kipling  has  developed  such  a  situation  in   The  Man    IVho   Would 
Be  King.  ^F.442.  *  P- S^S- 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  21 1 

in  the  confusion  of  many  Words,  and  several  Languages,  yet  were 
whipt  (for  not  learning)  by  their  Tutors,  whose  ill  teaching  broke  and 
weakned  their  Memories  with  overheavy  burthens  .  .  .  being  afraid 
of  whipping,  they  got  their  Lessons  by  rote,  without  understanding 
the  sense. 

Later  he  travels  for  some  years,  attends  at  court,  but  finally 
settles  down  in  the  country,  where  his  expenses  become  greater 
than  his  receipts.  A  poor  woman,  whom  he  benefits  one  day, 
warns  him  to  be  temperate  in  all  things,  and  he  decides  to 
follow  her  advice.  As  a  result,  he  marries  a  moderately  rich 
and  moderately  handsome  wife,  settles  down  to  a  moderate 
scale  of  existence,  and  lives  happily  ever  after.  This  sketch 
so  well  embodies  the  Duchess's  view  of  an  ideal  life  that  it  is 
no  wonder  she  recommends  ^  it  particularly  to  the  reader,  along 
with  **The  She  Anchoret,"  which  follows  next  in  Natures  Picture. 
Probably,  too,  this  recommendation  caused  these  pieces  to  be 
reprinted  in  1766  as  an  appendage  to  Alexander  Nicol's 
Poems  on  Several  Subjects.  Taken  together  they  are  entitled 
A  Treasure  of  Knowledge ;  or  The  Female  Oracle.  Wherein 
is  delineated  The  Experienced  Traveller ;  likewise  the  She 
Anchoret;  in  which  m,any  curious  Questions  are  resolved^ 
put  by  Natural  Philosophers^  Physicians^  Moral  Philosophers^ 
Theological  Students^  Preachers^  Judges^  Tradesmen^  Masters 
of  Families,  Married  Men  and  their  Wives y  Nurses ,  Widowers , 
and  Widows y   Virgins,  Lovers,  Poets  and  Aged  Persons. 

The  list  should  also  include  orators,  statesmen,  soldiers, 
and  historians,  for  all  these  classes  come  to  consult  the  ''  She 
Anchoret,"  after  her  father's  death  has  caused  her  to  retire  from 
the  world  in  single  blessedness.  To  each  she  replies  with  some 
fullness,  so  that  this  document  alone  gives  the  reader  a  very 
good  idea  of  Margaret  Cavendish's  intellectual  processes  — 
they  are  those  that  we  have  seen  repeated  over  and  over  again 

1  "  The  Preface." 


212  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

in  divers  forms  under  divers  circumstances.  The  Duke  con- 
tributes to  natural  philosophers  his  explanation  of  why  cats  see 
in  the  dark,  a  phenomenon  which  he  takes  to  be  caused  by  the 
sea-water-green  matter  about  their  eyes,  that  being  the  same  color 
one  finds  in  rotten  wood  and  glowworms'  tails.  ''  The  times," 
Newcastle  explains,  ^  '*  give  me  leave  to  study  the  nature  of  all 
things  from  the  Mouse  to  the  Elephant."  The  Anchoret  tells 
theologians  that  every  religious  opinion  ''judges  all  damned 
but  their  own :  and  most  opinions  are.  That  the  smallest  Fault 
is  able  to  damn,  but  the  most  Vertuous  Life,  and  innocent 
Thoughts,  not  sufficient  to  save  them,"  ^  a  dictum  of  profound 
if  practical  wisdom,  quite  in  accord  with  seventeenth-century 
latitudinarianism.  Wives  are  told  that  to  retain  their  husbands' 
affections  they  ''  must  act  the  Arts  of  a  Courtizan  to  him,  which 
is  very  lawful,  since  it  is  to  an  honest  End ;  for  the  Arts  are 
honest  and  lawful,  but  the  Design  and  End  is  wicked."  ^ 
Many  specific  instructions  are  given  for  bringing  up  children, 
the  drawbacks  to  common  and  free  schools  are  set  forth,  and 
nurses  come  in  for  a  large  share  of  criticism.  When  children 
cry,  "  Nurses  most  commonly  take  their  Tears  to  be  shed  out 
of  a  froward  passion,  rather  than  a  mournful  complaining,  or 
a  craving  redress ;  which  makes  them  only  to  sing,  or  prate, 
or  whistle,  or  rattle  to  them,  to  please  them ;  but  not  to  search 
about  them,  or  observe  them,  to  find  out  their  Malady  to  ease 
them ;  but  rather,  by  the  dancing  and  rocking  them,  they  put 
them  to  more  pain."  ^  And  further  on,^  *'  Nurses  feed  Children 
as  if  they  had  Ostritch's  Stomacks,  which  is  able  to  digest 
Iron."  The  Duchess's  love  of  didactic  writing  has  here  led 
her  far  from  such  a  narrative  style  as  she  was  developing  in 
"The  Contract."  She  refused  to  be  confined  within  artistic 
limits  and  consequently  broke  down  the  necessary  restraints  of 

1  p.  S70.  8  p.  665.  5  P.  669. 

2  p.  614.  *  p.  666. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  213 

story-telling,  until  "  The  She  Anchoret "  has  become  one  more 
conglomeration  of  assorted  ideas,  unified  only  by  its  creator's 
imagination. 1  An  extreme  antithesis  to  everything  which  has 
gone  before  closes  Natures  Picture^  for  the  chaos  of  the 
volume  is  made  complete  by  a  critical  review  of  noted  men, 
labelled  ''  Heaven's  Library,  which  is  Fame's  Palace,  purged 
from  Errors  and  Vices."  ^ 

III 

PLAYS  AND  ORATIONS  (1662-1668) 

It  would  have  been  surprising  if  in  her  extended  use  of 
literary  forms  the  Duchess  had  neglected  the  drama.  After 
the  Restoration,  plays  were  more  than  ever  a  fashionable  diver- 
sion. Newcastle  had  tried  his  hand  at  them,  and  his  wife 
naturally  followed  suit.  From  the  amount  of  work  she  pro- 
duced in  this  genre,  it  seems  clear  that  her  genius  felt  itself 
eminently  at  home  in  such  writing,  and,  indeed,  as  she  under- 
stood the  art,  her  fancy  had  limitless  scope  there.  For  the 
setting  of  the  Duchess's  plays  was  her  own  brain,  where  per- 
sonified abstractions  could  argue  or  debate  as  long  as  pen  and 
paper  gave  them  leave.  Any  suggestion  of  dramatic  technique 
is  completely  lacking,  for  that  would  at  once  imply  repression 
and  "  I  love  ease  so  well  as  I  hate  constraint  even  in  my 
works."  ^  Her  theory  was  not  altogether  wrong  when  she 
rebelled  against  the  unity  of  time  and  the  tradition  of  closing 
fifth  acts  with  a  full  stage,  for  in  these  respects  posterity  has 

1  "  You  will  find  my  Works  like  Infinite  Nature,"  she  herself  writes,  "  that 
hath  neither  Beginning  nor  End,  and  as  confused  as  the  Chaos  wherein  is 
neither  Method  nor  Order,  but  all  Mix'd  together,  without  Separation,  like 
Evening  Light  and  Darkness."  —  Sociable  Letter  CXXXI,  although  here  she 
is  referring  to  her  early  experimentations  in  philosophical  writing. 

2  Pp.  706-718. 

«  Playes,  1662,    "  To  the  Readers  "  (No.  3). 

...^ 


214  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

sustained  her ;  but  in  asserting  that  the  characters  need  not  all 
be  kinsfolk  and  acquaintance,  she  denied  even  the  most  primi- 
tive artistic  unity.  As  to  the  more  subtle  laws  of  play-writing, 
the  Duchess  was  entirely  innocent,  for  no  dramatic  sense  had 
been  granted  to  her  by  Providence.  It  is  not  remarkable,  then, 
that  her  plays  were  never  accorded  a  single  performance, 
although  she  intended  them  for  actual  representation  and  ex- 
plained that  if  they  had  not  been  given,  it  was  merely  because 
of  their  length  and  the  closing  of  theatres  in  England.^  Two 
reasons  always  look  like  an  excuse,  and  so  it  was  to  prove  in 
this  case.  Time  went  on  and  conditions  changed,  but  still 
the  Duchess's  plays  remained  unacted  and  unactable.  They 
are  closet  drama  indeed  —  but  closet  drama  so  lifeless  and  so 
dull  that  one  shrinks  from  it  even  on  the  printed  page.  They 
mark  the  lowest  ebb  of  their  authoress's  literary  production. 

Her  first  volume  of  Playes  was  printed  in  1662  and  con- 
tains fourteen  dramas,  seven  of  them  in  two  parts,  making 
a  total  of  twenty-one  pieces.  There  are  ten  epistles,  ''  To  the 
Readers,  "  prefixed,  a  ''General  Prologue,"  and  ''An  Introduc- 
tion," of  which  the  "  Prologue  "  in  verse  is  chiefly  interesting. 
For  one  thing,  it  asserts  that  she  wrote  all  her  plays  in  a 
comparatively  short  time : 

This  shews  my  Playes  have  not  such  store  of  wit 
Not  subtil  plots,  they  were  so  quickly  writ 
So  quickly  writ  that  I  did  almost  cry 
For  want  of  work,  my  time  for  to  imploy : 
Some  time  for  want  of  work,  I'm  forced  to  play, 
And  idlely  to  cast  my  time  away : 

And  again,  asserting  her  originality  of  plot,  which  no  reader 
of  the  plays  would  think  of  denying :  ^ 

1  Playes,  1662,  "  To  the  Readers  "  (No.  2). 

2  Langbaine,  p.  391,  thinks  that  for  this  reason,  "she  ought  with  Justice 
to  be  preferr'd  to  others  of  her  Sex,  which  have  built  their  Fame  on  other 
People's  Foundations." 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  215 

But,  Noble  Readers,  do  not  think  my  Playes 

Are  such  as  have  been  writ  in  former  daies ; 

As  Johnson,  Shakespear,  Beaumont,  Fletcher  writ 

Mine  want  their  Learning,  Reading,  Language,  Wit : 

The  Latin  phrases,  I  could  never  tell 

But  Johnson  could,  which  made  him  write  so  well 

Greek,  Latin  Poets  I  could  never  read 

Nor  their  Historians,  but  our  English  Speed ; 

I  could  not  steal  their  Wit,  nor  Plots  out  take 

All  my  Playes  Plots,  my  own  poor  brain  did  make. 

From  Plutarchs  story  I  ne'er  took  a  Plot, 

Nor  from  Romances,  nor  from  Don  Quixot, 

As  others  have,  for  to  assist  their  Wit, 

But  I  upon  my  own  Foundation  writ. 

The  only  play  in  her  book  which  was  not  entirely  novel 
is  that  called  The  Apocriphal  Ladies}  According  to  its  "  Epi- 
logue "  the  basis  is  a  tale  in  English  history,  and  this  may  be 
identified  as  Geoffrey  of  Monmouth's  legendary  account  of 
Locrine,  made  familiar  by  Milton  in  Comus.  The  story,  in 
brief,  is  that  King  Locrine,  the  oldest  son  of  Brut,  becomes 
enamored  of  Estrildis,  a  German  captive,  but  is  forced  by 
Corineus,  Duke  of  Cornwall,  to  marry  his  daughter  Gwendolen, 
to  whom  the  King  was  previously  betrothed.  Estrildis  is  kept 
in  an  underground  chamber  for  seven  years,  until  Corineus  dies, 
when  Locrine  deserts  Gwendolen  to  marry  his  love.  Gwendolen 
retires  to  Cornwall,  collects  an  army,  and  kills  Locrine  in  bat- 
tle, while  Estrildis  and  her  daughter  Sabrina  are  flung  into 
a  river,  thereafter  known  from  this  occurrence  as  the  Severn. 
Such  a  narrative  made  crude  but  dramatic  material  in  the  hands 
of  an  Elizabethan  author,  but  the  Duchess's  interest  in  the 
story  became  much  more  sophisticated.  Her  mind  was  occu- 
pied with  the  question  of  Gwendolen's  claim  to  the  throne  after 
Locrine's  marriage  to  Estrildis ;  and  in  order  to  make  this 
problem  more  difficult  she  supposes  that  Gwendolen  was  the 

1P.63S. 


2l6  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

rightful  heir  and  Locrine  king  only  by  virtue  of  being  his 
wife's  husband.  Then  she  lowers  the  rank  of  the  characters, 
renames  them  ''The  Duke  of  Inconstancy,"  ''The  Unfortunate 
Duchess,"  "  The  Comical  Duchess,"  and  lo !  here  is  subject 
matter  for  a  play. 

Thus  we  have  two  "  apocriphal  ladies "  to  start  with :  the 
rightful  duchess,  now  deposed  by  the  ducal  power  of  her  hus- 
band, and  his  second  wife,  who  has  no  real  claim  to  the  posi- 
tion. To  these  are  added  "The  Creating  Princess,"  determined 
to  elevate  a  husband  to  her  own  rank,  and  "The  Imaginary 
Queen,"  royal  by  right  of  her  fancy.  There  is  no  action  in 
the  play  except  the  Duke's  leaving  his  second  wife  and  her 
subsequent  continuation  of  a  Duchess's  state,  and  even  this  is 
narrated  not  acted.^  One  scene  is  taken  up  by  a  discussion 
between  three  gentlemen  on  the  subject  of  heraldry; 2  in  an- 
other. Lady  True  Honour  tells  Madam  Inquirer  about  the 
importance  of  rank.^  The  height  of  irrelevancy  seems  to  be 
reached  in  the  description  of  Earl  Undone's  marriage  to  Mis- 
triss  Tip-tape,  an  alewife,  and  her  elevation  to  share  his  title. 
Yet  the  connection  of  all  this  outlying  material  becomes  plain, 
when  we  realize  that  our  authoress  was  not  telling  a  story  but 
dramatizing  the  abstract  conception  of  Rank.  Her  thesis  is, 
"  I  perceive  Great  Noble  Persons  may  do  what  they  will,"  ^ 
and  that  proves  to  be  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  matter ;  but 
instead  of  establishing  her  point  by  one  carefully  selected 
instance,  she  multiplies  disconnected  fancies,  until  the  complex 
web  of  imagination  obscures  her  original  plan.  It  is  only  neces- 
sary to  contrast  the  Elizabethan  Locrine  with  The  Apocriphal 
Ladies  to  see  the  difference  between  a  play  and  an  argumen- 
tative treatise,  a  comparison  the  Duchess  invites  by  boldly  ad- 
mitting her  historical  sources.  No  better  evidence  could  be 
found  of  how  utterly  undramatic  was  her  work  and  how  little 

^  Scenes  xxi  and  xxiii.         2  Scene  xiv.        ^  Scene  xx.        *  Scene  xxii. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  21/ 

she  realized  the  fact.  This  latter  consideration  may  mitigate 
one's  personal  irritation  towards  the  lady,  though  it  cannot 
soften  a  righteous  critical  severity. 

To  treat  the  remaining  twenty  plays  in  detail  would  be  as 
discouraging  as  useless  —  they  do  not  demand  or  deserve  a 
minute  analysis.  Let  it  suffice  to  enumerate  them  and  to  notice, 
in  passing,  their  general  outline  or  most  significant  character- 
istics. The  first.  Loves  Adventures^  in  two  parts,  tells  that  the 
Lady  Orphant  serves  Lord  Singularity  in  the  guise  of  a  page, 
Affectionata,  and  so  gains  his  love;  that  Lady  Bashful  is 
wooed  by  Sir  Humphry  Bold,  but  won  by  Sir  Serious  Dumbe ; 
and  that  Sir  Peaceable  Studious  drives  his  wife  from  her 
worldliness  by  himself  plunging  into  the  society  of  fair  ladies. 
These  stories  give  rise  to  numerous  incidental  discussions, 
among  them  the  description  of  a  wise  husband,^  the  satire 
upon  Puritan  preachers,^  and  a  complaint  that  there  is  such  a 
majority  of  evil  in  the  world. ^  This  last  point  is  typical  of  the 
Duchess's  cast  of  thought,  which  more  than  once  betrays  a 
distinct  tendency  towards  pessimism,  quite  in  keeping  with 
those  troublous  times  and  her  own  unfortunate  experiences.  It 
is  only  natural  for  the  exiled  and  impoverished  noblewoman 
to  write :  ^ 

The  general  manner  of  the  whole  World  is  to  offer  more  than 
present,  to  promise  more  than  perform,  to  be  more  faigning  than 
real,  more  courtly  than  friendly,  more  treacherous  than  trusty,  more 
covetous  than  generous  and  yet  more  prodigal  than  covetous. 

Newcastle  frequently  contributed  to  his  wife's  plays,  and  at  the 
end  of  Loves  Adventures  he  has  a  poem  summarizing  the 
action,  which  begins. 

Love  in  thy  younger  age 

Thou  then  turn'd  page. 

^  Part  I,  scene  xiv.  ^  p^rt  n,  scene  xi.  ^  Part  II,  scene  xxxiii. 

*  The  plays  were  written  while  she  was  still  abroad,  although  not  published 
until  1662.   See  "  To  the  Reader,"  at  the  end  of  the  book. 


21 8  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

The  Duchess  is  always  scrupulously  careful  about  rendering 
due  credit  to  her  husband  for  his  assistance  in  composition,  so 
that  again  and  again  in  her  plays  we  come  across  the  legend 
''  This  Scene  was  written  by  my  Lord  Marquess  of  Newcastle" 
or  "  These  Verses  the  Lord  Marquess  writ." 

T/ie  Comedy  named  The  Several  Wits,  The  wise  Wit,  the 
wild  Wit,  the  cholerick  Wit,  the  humble  Wit,  is  sufficiently 
described  by  its  title.  One  of  the  female  characters,  Mada- 
mosel  Solid,  is  the  first  of  those  contemplative  ladies  that  are 
scattered  in  such  profusion  throughout  the  plays  and  who  are 
only  so  many  variations  of  the  authoress  herself.  Lady  San- 
parelle  in  the  two  parts  of  Youths  Glory  and  Deaths  Banquet 
is  a  similar  person,  and  to  her  is  given  also  the  gift  of  oratory. 
She  gets  her  father's  permission  for  public  speaking,  and 
lectures  to  a  select  audience  upon  nature,^  upon  love  and 
hate,2  upon  men's  professions,^  and  finally  upon  matrimony.* 
Strangely  enough  she  upholds  celibacy  and  remains  true  to 
her  creed,  as  do  others  of  the  Duchess's  ideal  characters. 
Evidently  their  creator,  although  a  notable  exponent  of  happy 
married  life,  did  not  theoretically  believe  in  the  institution  of 
wedlock.  Youths  Glory  and  Deaths  Banquet  is,  as  the  name 
implies,  a  tragedy,  for  not  only  does  Lady  Sanparelle  meet 
her  death,  but  the  Lady  Innocence  commits  suicide  because 
the  Lord  de  L' Amour  has  forsaken  her.  He  learns  too  late 
that  Lady  Incontinent  has  basely  slandered  Innocence  and,  to 
expiate  the  crime,  takes  his  own  life. 

The  Lady  Contemplation,  in  two  parts,  is  largely  concerned 
with  the  Lady  Virtue's  disguise  as  a  farmer's  daughter  and  her 
encounter  with  Sir  Effeminate  Lovely,  Sir  Golden  Riches,  and 
Lord  Title,  who  finally  marries  her.  The  same  noblemen 
accost  the  real  country  girl,  Mall  Mean-bred,  in  comic  scenes 

1  Part  I,  scene  ix.  *  Part  I,  scene  xv. 

*  Part  I,  scene  xi.  *  Part  II,  scene  v. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  219 

written  for  the  most  part  by  Newcastle.  This  play  also 
deals  with  Lady  Ward's  success  in  winning  her  husband, 
Lord  Courtship,  from  his  mistress,  the  Lady  Amorous.  The 
Lady  Contemplation,  who  gives  her  name  to  the  piece,  is 
another  imaginative  character,  but  she  is  finally  persuaded  to 
leave  her  solitary  life  and  become  the  bride  of  Sir  Fancy  Poet. 
One  episode  in  this  drama  is  so  vivid  as  to  suggest  that  the 
Duchess  may  be  describing  an  actual  incident,  of  which  she 
was  the  heroine  during  her  early  days  at  court.  The  Lady 
Ward  can  see  no  difference  between  the  word  *'  baud  "  and 
the  more  elegant  ''  confident "  and  is  severely  reprimanded 
by  Nurse  Careful  for  such  ingenuousness :  ^ 

O  peace  Child  for  if  any  body  heard  you  say  so,  they  would  laugh  at 
you  for  a  Fool,  but  't  is  a  sign  you  never  was  a  Courtier,  for  I  knew 
a  young  Lady  that  went  to  Court  to  be  a  Maid  of  Honour ;  and  there 
were  two  young  Ladies  that  were  Confidents  to  each  other,  and  a  great 
Prince  made  love  to  one  of  them,  but  addresst  himself  to  the  other, 
as  being  her  Friend ;  this  young  Maid  askt  why  he  did  so,  it  was 
answered,  she  was  the  Princes  Mistresse  Confident ;  and  just  as  you 
ask  me,  what  said  she,  is  a  confident  a  Baud ;  whereupon  the  whole 
Court  laught  at  her  and  for  that  only  question  condemned  her  to  be 
a  very  fool,  nay  a  meer  Changling. 

TAe  Wits  Cabal  takes  its  name  from  a  company  of  men 
and  women  who  spend  most  of  their  time  in  polite  conver- 
sation or  extemporaneous  rhyming.  This  is  a  device  frequently 
employed  by  the  Duchess,  for  it  reduces  the  plot  of  her  play 
to  a  minimum  and  at  the  same  time  gives  her  fancy  boundless 
scope.  The  only  individual  strands  which  may  be  disentangled 
from  ten  acts  of  talk  are  old  Mother  Matron's  amusing  capture 
of  Monsieur  Frisk  and  the  union  of  Madamoiselle  Bon  Esprit 
with  Monsieur  Satyrical,  despite  the  latter's  dislike  of  women 
and  the  former's  intention  to  make  him  ridiculous.  Interesting 
details  are  :    Monsieur  Sensuality's  arguments  for  polygamy,^ 

1  Part  I,  scene  xix.  2  p^rt  I,  scene  v. 


220  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

a  masque  of  the  Five  Senses,^  and  the  cabal's  "  dialogue- 
discourses  "  in  prose  and  verse.^  One  of  them  pointedly 
asserts  that  *' Widowers  love  their  second  wives  better  than 
the  first  .  .  .  but  women,  'tis  said,  love  their  first  husbands 
better  than  the  second."^  In  another,  Chaucer  is  praised  as 
an  example  of  how  unimportant  is  literary  form,  for  ''  certainly 
Chaucers  Witty  Poems  and  Lively  Descriptions,  in  despite  of 
their  Old  Language,  as  they  have  lasted  in  great  Esteem  and 
Admiration  these  three  hundred  years,  so  they  may  do  Eter- 
nally amongst  the  Wise  in  every  Age."  ^  The  Unnatural 
Tragedie  relates  a  story  of  incest  in  the  same  calm  philo- 
sophical manner  which  distinguishes  all  the  Duchess's  plays, 
and  which  in  this  instance  contrasts  most  forcibly  with  her 
passionate  subject.  After  Monsieur  Frere  has  forced  his  sis- 
ter, he  kills  both  her  and  himself,  thus  indirectly  causing  the 
death  of  her  husband,  his  own  intended  bride,  and  Monsieur 
Pere.  The  underplot  deals  with  Monsieur  Malateste,  his  good 
first  wife,  and  the  shrew  he  afterwards  marries.  The  weaker 
partner  fares  ill  each  time,  for  the  ''  survival  of  the  fittest " 
doctrine  is  twice  carried  out  to  its  logical  conclusion.  The 
Sociable  Virgins  frequently  interrupt  the  action  by  their 
abstract  utterances,  once  harping  again  upon  the  Duchess's 
favorite  string  with  a  demand  that  women  should  have  more 
experience  and  education.^ 

Again  they  discuss  historians  and  have  something  to  say  of 
Camden,  famous  as  Ben  Jonson's  master  and  as  author  of 
the  Britannia  :^ 

1  Part  I,  scenes  xxi,  xxiv,  and  xxvi. 

2  Part  I,  scene  xxxvii,  and  Part  II,  scenes  ix  and  xxii. 

*  Part  I,  scene  xxv. 

*  Part  I,  scene  xxxvii.  This  was  the  standard  seventeenth-century  opinion, 
given  classical  expression  in  Dryden's  Preface  to  the  Fables. 

5  Scene  x.   The  Duchess  herself  rebutted  their  argument  in  her  Preface 
to  The  World's  Olio. 
^  Scene  xiii. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  221 

Let  me  tell  you  that  Chronologers  do  not  only  new  dress  truth  but 
they  falsifie  her,  as  may  be  seen  in  our  late  chronologers,  such  writers 
as  Camden  and  the  hke  ...  As  for  particular  Families  some  Camden 
hath  mistaken  and  some  of  Antient  Descent  he  hath  not  mention'd 
and  some  he  hath  falsely  mention'd  to  their  prejudice  and  some  so 
slightiy,  as  with  an  undervaluing,  as  if  they  were  not  worth  the  men- 
tion, which  is  far  worse  than  if  he  should  rail  or  disclame  against  them : 
But  I  suppose  he  hath  done  as  I  have  heard  a  Tale  of  one  of  his  like 
Profession,  which  was  a  Schoolmaster  as  Camden  was,  which  went  to 
whip  one  of  his  Scholars,  and  the  boy  to  save  himself,  promised  his 
Master  that  if  he  would  give  him  his  pardon,  that  his  Mother  should 
give  him  a  fat  pig ;  whereupon  the  fury  of  the  Pedant  was  not  only 
pacify'd,  but  the  boy  was  strok'd  and  made  much  of.  .  .  .  I  have  ob- 
serv'd  one  Errour  in  his  Writing  that  is,  when  he  mentions  such  Places 
and  Houses,  he  says  the  ancient  situation  of  such  a  worthy  Family, 
when  to  my  knowledge,  many  of  those  Families  he  mentions  bought 
those  Houses  and  Lands,  some  one  Descent,  some  two  Descents, 
some  three  before,  which  Families  came  out  of  other  parts  of  the 
Kingdom,  or  the  City,  and  not  to  the  Antient  and  Inheritary  Families ; 
but  he  leaves  those  Antient  Families  unmention'd  ...  he  might  take 
some  pett  at  those  that  did  not  entertain  him  at  their  Houses  when 
he  went  his  Progress  about  the  Kingdome  to  inform  him  of  the  several 
parts  of  the  Country  before  he  writ  of  the  same. 

One  would  expect  from  this  to  find  the  Newcastles  slighted 
in  Britannia,  but  the  case  proves  to  be  quite  otherwise/  for 
the  Ogles  are  duly  mentioned  ^  and  the  Cavendishes  receive 
their  meed  of  attention.^  Now  Camden's  book  had  earlier 
been  subjected  to  severe  criticism  by  one  Ralphe  Brooke,  who 
in  1599  brought  out  A  Discoverie  of  Certaine  Errours,  pub- 
lished in  Print  in  the  much  commended  Bntannia,  1^94-^ 

1  Is  it  conceivable  that  the  Duchess  could  have  imagined  that  the  Lucases 
deserved  a  place  in  this  aristocratic  work  ? 

^  Britannia,  1637  ed.,  p.  812. 

«  Britannia,  pp.  555-556.  It  is  true  that  the  Newcastle  branch  is  not  specifi- 
cally noticed,  but  it  had  achieved  no  eminence  by  1623,  the  year  of  Camden's 
death.  In  his  Annates,  1625  ed.,  p.  572,  Camden  mentions  Elizabeth  Talbot's 
ill  conduct,  and  as  she  really  founded  the  family  of  Cavendish,  this  may  have 
been  a  possible  cause  for  complaint. 

*  Title-page. 


222  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

The  minor  facts  are  of  small  importance  for  our  purpose, 
which  is  merely  to  show  that  the  Duchess's  strictures  were  not 
the  first  of  their  kind.  Indeed  it  almost  seems  as  if  Camden 
were  anticipating  The  Unnattiral  Tragedie^  when  he  wrote :  ^ 

There  are  some  peradventure  which  apprehend  it  disdainfully  and 
offensively  that  I  have  not  remembered  this  or  that  family  when  as  it 
was  not  my  purpose  to  mention  any  but  such  as  were  more  notable, 
nor  all  of  them  truely  (for  their  names  would  fill  whole  volumes)  but 
such  as  hapned  in  my  way  according  to  the  method  I  proposed  to 
my  selfe. 

The  Piiblick  Wooing  takes  its  name  from  a  plan  devised  by 
Lady  Prudence  as  a  safeguard  in  marrying,  that  everything 
may  be  open  and  aboveboard.  She  refuses  a  soldier,  a  country 
gentleman,  a  courtier,  a  bashful  suitor,  an  amorous  one,  a 
divine,  a  lawyer,  a  citizen,  and  a  farmer.  The  man  of  her 
choice  is  a  stranger,  ''  a  man  that  had  a  wooden  Leg,  a  patch 
on  his  Eye,  and  crook-back'd,  unhandsome,  snarled  Hair  and 
plain  poor  Cloaths  on,"  ^  who,  of  course,  ultimately  turns  out 
to  be  a  prince  in  disguise.  Sir  Thomas  Letgo,  being  in  finan- 
cial straits,  wagers  his  affianced  mistress  against  ;£"  15,000, 
and,  when  he  loses,  contents  himself  with  the  Lady  Liberty,  his 
amoretta.  Other  characters  in  this  play  are  Sir  Henry  Courtly 
and  his  jealous  wife ;  the  Lady  Geosling,  a  newly  married 
woman ;  and  four  chattering  girls.  Mistresses  Parle,  Trifle, 
Vanity,  and  Fondly.  The  Matrimonial  Trouble  contains  the 
history  of  several  unfortunate  marriages.  Mistris  Forsaken 
disguises  herself  as  a  man  and  courts  her  lover's  wife,  poison 
or  cold  steel  being  the  end  of  all  three.  Monsieur  Amorous 
gains  the  favor  of  Lady  Wanton  but  is  refused  by  Lady 
Chastity.  Sir  Humphrey  and  Lady  Disagree  fall  out  over 
trifles.   Sir  Timothy  Spendall  drinks  his  wife  out  of  house  and 

1  "To  the  Reader,"  prefixed  to  the  1637  Britannia. 

2  Scene  xxiii. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  223 

home.  Only  imminent  personal  danger  to  her  husband  can 
shake  the  Lady  Hypocondria  from  her  fits  of  melancholy.  The 
Lady  Jealousy  feels  that  her  maid  Nan  is  a  deadly  rival,  the 
Lord  Widower  takes  Doll  Subtilty  for  his  mistress,  and  Sir 
John  Dotard  marries  Briget  Greasy.  The  passages  dealing 
with  these  three  servants  are  frankly  realistic  and  more  spirited 
than  much  of  the  Duchess's  work ;  she  was,  we  shall  see,  not 
altogether  inexperienced  in  housekeeping,  and  maid-servants* 
ways  were  evidently  well  known  to  her.  The  interview  between 
Briget  and  the  Steward  in  Part  I,  scene  ii,  is  an  excellent  bit 
of  life  below  stairs,  while  the  kitchen  wench's  subsequent  airs 
as  mistress  of  the  house  are  vividly  described  if  not  specifically 
shown.  1  During  the  second  part  of  this  ''  come-tragedy "  a  new 
character  is  introduced,  one  Raillery  Jester,  the  professional 
fool.  Many  of  our  authoress's  fancies  are  put  into  his  mouth, 
but  he  cannot  be  said  to  have  the  slightest  individuality. 

The  title  characters  of  Nature  s  three  Daughters^  Beauty, 
Love,  and  Wit  are  given  French  names  in  that  play :  Mada- 
moiselle  La  Belle,  Madamoiselle  Amour,  and  Madamoiselle 
Grand  Esprit.  The  first  weds  Monsieur  Heroick,  after  he 
has  fought  a  duel  with  Monsieur  Phantasie  over  their  mis- 
tresses. Amour  confesses  her  love  for  Heroick's  brother 
Nobilissimo,  who  is  a  model  horseman  ^  (shades  of  New- 
castle !)  and  an  exponent  of  the  old  Elizabethan  spirit.  '*  A 
Right  bred  Gentleman,"  he  says,  ''is  to  know  the  use  of  the 
Sword,  and  it  is  more  manly  to  assault,  than  to  defend ;  also 
to  know  how  to  mannage  Horses,  whereby  we  know  how 
to  assault  our  enemy  as  well  as  to  defend  our  selves  ;  for  it 
is  not  playing  with  a  Fidle,  and  dancing  a  Measure  makes 
a  Gentleman ;  for  then  Princes  should  dub  Knighthood  with 
a  Fidle  and  give  the  stick,  and  a  pair  of  Pumps,  instead  of  a 

1  Part  I,  scenes  vii,  xiv,  and  xviii. 

2  Part  I,  scene  xi. 


224  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Sword  and  a  pair  of  Spurs."  ^  Madamoiselle  Grand  Esprit 
turns  out  to  be  another  of  the  loquacious  ladies  who  do  not 
marry  at  all.  She  talks  of  ignorance,^  self-love,^  vanity,  vice, 
and  wickedness,^  of  beauty,^  and  of  matrimonial  love.^  She 
also  states  quite  clearly  the  Duchess's  creed,  as  it  appears  in 
her  philosophical  books  -J 

The  Harmony  that  is  made  out  of  discord,  shews  that  there  is  only 
one  absolute  power  and  wise  disposer,  that  cannot  be  opposed,  having 
no  Copartners,  produces  all  things,  being  not  produced  by  anything, 
wherefore  must  be  Eternall  and  consequently  infinite ;  this  absolute, 
wise  and  Eternal  power  Man  calls  God;  but  this  absolute  power, 
being  infinite,  he  must  of  necessity  be  incomprehensible  and  being 
incomprehensible,  must  of  necessity  be  unknown,  yet  glimpses  of  his 
power  is,  or  may  be  seen ;  yet  not  so,  but  that  Man  is  forced  to  set 
up  Candels  of  Faith,  to  light  them,  or  direct  them  to  that  they  cannot 
perfectly  know,  and  for  want  of  the  clear  light  of  knowledge,  Man 
calls  all  Creations  of  this  mighty  power  Nature. 

Among  other  personages  figuring  in  this  play  are  Monsieur  Es- 
perance,  who  exasperates  his  wife  by  not  noticing  her  clothes, 
and  the  Talkative  Ladies,  one  more  circle  of  conversationalists. 
The  Religious  relates  the  story  of  a  child  marriage  between 
Lady  Perfection  and  Lord  Melancholy,  later  broken  off  by  his 
father,  Dorato.  Melancholy  is  forced  to  wed  another;  and 
Perfection,  wooed  by  the  Arch-Prince,  enters  a  convent. 
When  Melancholy's  wife  dies,  he  seek§  out  his  early  love 
behind  her  grate,  where  they  prepare  to  die  on  one  double- 
pointed  sword.  This  design  is  prevented,  but,  as  the  lady  will 
not  break  her  vow,  the  only  solution  is  that  she  ''  marry  this 
Lord  again,  and  let  him  make  the  same  Vow,  and  enter  into 
the  same  Cloyster,  and  into  the  same  Religious  Order  of 
Chastity,    and   being  Man   and   Wife   you   are   but   as   one 

1  Part  I,  scene  viii.  ^  Part  II,  scene  xiii. 

2  Part  I,  scene  vii.  ^  Part  II,  scene  xx. 
8  Part  I,  scene  xiii.  '^  Part  I,  scene  vii. 
*  Part  II,  scene  i. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  225 

person,  so  that  if  you  be  constant  and  true  to  your  selves,  you 
keep  the  Vow  of  Chastity ;  for  what  is  more  Chast  than  law- 
full  Marriage  ?  "  ^  A  strange  character,  Mistriss  Odd-Humour, 
sporadically  enters  the  action,  with  her  favorite  chair  which 
she  cannot  bear  to  leave.  Finally  her  father  burns  it  and 
compels  his  daughter  to  take  a  husband.  The  Comical  Hash 
is  more  devoid  of  plot  than  any  play  in  the  1662  volume, 
Sir  William  Admirer's  marriage  with  Lady  Peaceable  being 
the  only  tangible  incident  in  its  pages.  There  is  much  dis- 
cussion, however,  especially  as  to  originality  in  poets.  As 
usual  the  Duchess  thinks  "an  Imitator  is  but  an  Artificer, 
when  as  the  Original  Author  is  a  Creator,  and  ought  to  be 
accounted  of,  and  respected  and  worship'd  as  Divine  .  .  .  Art 
cannot  out  do  Nature,  nor  do  as  Nature  hath  done  and  doth 
do."  ^  Again  in  a  personal  vein  she  writes  :  ^  **  Contemplative 
persons  when  they  come  into  Company,  or  publick  Societies, 
their  tongues  do  as  Boys,  that  having  been  kept  hard  to  their 
studies,  when  once  they  get  a  play  day,  they  run  wildly  about 
and  many  times  do  extravagant  actions."  And  finally,  with  a 
broader  application  to  her  own  writings  than  the  Duchess  ever 
imagined :  ^  "'tis  very  unhappy  for  women  that  they  are  not 
instructed  in  the  rules  of  Rhetoric,  by  reason  they  talk  so 
much,  that  they  might  talk  sensibly,  whereas  now  for  want  of 
that  Art,  they  talk  meer  nonsense."  Some  rudimentary  knowl- 
edge of  literary  rules  would  have  been  inestimably  valuable 
in  assisting  the  authoress  to  a  more  important  place  in  English 
literature,  dramatic  and  otherwise. 

Bell  in  Campo,  the  last  two-part  play,  seems  to  embody  an 
ideal  of  womanhood.  Although  the  Duchess  has  elsewhere 
forcibly  expressed  her  opinion  concerning  feminine  limitations, 
at  the  same  time  she  evidently  cherished  a  vague  aspiration 

1  Scene  xxxv.  •  Scene  viii. 

2  Scene  iv.  *  Scene  xii. 


226  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

towards  more  virile  qualities.  At  least  the  heroine  of  "  As- 
saulted and  Pursued  Chastity  "  was  a  successful  general,  and 
here  that  situation  is  repeated.^  Lady  Victoria  persuades  her 
husband,  the  Lord  General,  to  let  her  go  along  on  his  mili- 
tary expedition,  but  later,  when  engagements  threaten,  she  and 
the  other  women  are  sent  away.  In  pique  they  form  an  army 
among  themselves  and  after  the  men's  defeat  subdue  the  hos- 
tile Kingdom  of  Faction,  thus  restoring  peace  to  their  country. 
As  a  result  many  new  laws,  favorable  to  women,  are  enacted, 
while  their  general,  the  Lady  Victoria,  receives  particular 
rewards  and  honors.  Meantime  Madam  Jantil  and  Madam 
Passionate,  whose  husbands  have  been  killed  in  the  wars,  pass 
very  different  widowhoods.  Jantil  builds  an  elaborate  tomb, 
prays  constantly  before  it,  and  at  last,  playing  the  swan,  dies 
in  music.  Madam  Passionate,  on  the  other  hand,  marries 
young  Monsieur  Compaignon,  only  to  have  her  money  squan- 
dered and  her  person  abused  by  the  young  husband.  Follow- 
ing Bell  in  Campo  comes  The  Apocriphal  Ladies,  already 
discussed  in  some  detail,  and  then  The  Female  Academy 
brings  this  volume  to  an  end.  The  Academy  is  ''a  House 
wherein  a  company  of  young  Ladies  are  instructed  by  old 
Matrons ;  as  to  speak  wittily  and  rationally  and  to  behave 
themselves  handsomly  and  to  live  virtuously."  ^  Naturally  the 
men  do  not  like  this  arrangement  and  start  a  rival  academy, 
but  as  their  discourses  always  turn  on  women,  the  institution 
proves  a  failure.  Then  in  an  attempt  to  break  up  the  female 
organization  they  play  trumpets  outside  its  lectures,  until  one 
of  the  Matrons  pacifies  them  by  laying  the  responsibility  on 
the  ladies'  parents.  Most  of  this  action  is  described  at  second- 
hand, and  the  scenes  themselves  are  mainly  occupied  with 
various  abstract  orations. 

1  See  also  "  To  the  Two  Universities,"  prefixed  to  the  1655  edition  of  Philo- 
sophical and  Physical  Opinions.  ^  Scene  i. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  227 

At  the  conclusion  of  this  volume,  in  another  letter,  "To 
the  Readers,"  the  Duchess  tells  about  a  new  work  she  is  pro- 
jecting. The  Life  of  William  Cave?tdishe  had  been  already 
begun,  but  as  some  necessary  material  was  not  yet  at  hand 
(presumably  the  depositions  of  John  Rolleston),  *'I  was  forced 
to  sit  idle.  .  .  .  After  some  idle  time,  at  last,  I  fell  upon  a  vein 
of  writing  Letters  and  so  fast  did  the  vein  run  at  first,  as  in 
one  Fortnight  I  writ  above  three  score  Letters,  but  I  find  it 
begins  to  flag  ...  for  though  I  desire  to  make  them  up  a 
hundred,  yet  I  believe  I  shall  not  go  much  further,  finding 
my  spirits  of  Fancy  grow  weak,  and  dull  and  the  vein  of  Wit 
empty,  having  lately  writ  2 1  Playes  with  1 2  Epistles  and  one 
Introduction  besides  Prologues  and  Epilogues.  .  .  .  These 
letters  I  thought  to  joyn  them  to  this  Book  of  Playes,  believ- 
ing there  would  not  be  so  many  of  them,  as  to  be  in  Folio, 
by  themselves,  but  fearing  I  should  surfeit  my  Readers  with 
too  great  a  Volume,  I  have  altered  that  intention.  .  .  .  But  it 
may  be  some  will  say  there  is  enough  of  my  Playes,  to  surfeit, 
as  being  not  delicious  and  choyce  food  for  the  mind."  Evi- 
dently some  did  say  so,^  as  in  1668,  when  Plays,  Never  Be- 
fore Printed  appeared,  their  author  states  that,  **  malice  cannot 
hinder  me  from  Writing,  wherein  consists  my  chiefest  delight 
and  greatest  pastime;  nor  from  Printing  what  I  write,  since 
I  regard  not  so  much  the  present  as  future  Ages,  for  which  I 
intend  all  my  Books.  When  I  call  this  new  one  Plays,  I  do 
not  believe  to  have  given  it  a  very  proper  Title :  for  it  would 
be  too  great  a  fondness  to  my  Works  to  think  such  Plays  as 
these  suitable  to  ancient  Rules,  in  which  I  pretend  no  skill ;  or 

1  Scott  makes  the  young  Earl  of  Derby  in  Peveril  of  the  Peak  exclaim : 
"  The  fellow  has  brought  me  nothing  but  a  parcel  of  tracts  about  Protestants 
and  Papists  and  a  folio  play-book,  one  of  the  conceptions  as  she  calls  them, 
of  that  old  mad-woman,  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  ...  I  would  not  give  one 
of  Waller's  songs  or  Denham's  satires  for  a  whole  cart-load  of  her  Grace's 
trash."  —  Border  Edition,  II,  5. 


228  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

agreeable  to  the  modern  Humor,  to  which  I  dare  acknowledg 
my  aversion :  But  having  pleased  my  Fancy  in  writing  many 
Dialogues  upon  several  Subjects,  and  having  afterwards  order 'd 
them  into  Acts  and  Scenes,  I  will  venture  in  spight  of  the 
Criticks,  to  call  them  Plays."  ^ 

The  first  drama  in  this  1668  volume,  The  Sociable  Com- 
panions;  or,  the  Female  Wits,  deals  with  certain  disbanded 
soldiers  and  their  efforts  to  obtain  a  livelihood.  The  opening 
scene  contains  a  vigorous  account  of  contemporaneous  sharpers' 
methods  culminating  in  a  rousing  song,  "  Let's  go  to  our  New 
Plantation."  Subsequently  the  Captain's  sister.  Peg,  fathers  a 
child  on  Get-all,  the  usurer,  and  by  help  of  a  mock  spiritual 
court  obtains  him  as  husband.  During  the  supposed  midwife's 
testimony  comes  a  phrase  which  might  well  stand  as  the  plea 
of  all  over-realistic  artists.  "  But  what  is  all  this  to  the  Con- 
fession of  the  Labouring  Woman  1 "  the  witness  is  asked  in 
the  midst  of  her  superfluous  details.  '*  It  is  of  concern,"  she 
replies,  ''for  Circumstance  is  partly  a  declaring  of  truth." 2 
Jane  Fullwit  takes  service  with  Lawyer  Plead-all  as  a  man' 
clerk,  so  that  when  the  disguise  is  revealed,  he  has  agreed  to 
marry  her.  Lady  Riches  had  meanwhile  fallen  in  love  with 
the  fictitious  clerk  but  on  learning  of  the  deception  takes 
Dick  Traveller  to  husband  instead.  Anne  Sensible  causes  her 
brother  to  find  her  alone  with  Doctor  Cure-all,  and  in  view  of 
this  compromising  situation  she  receives  an  offer  of  marriage. 
A  rather  more  unrelated  portion  of  the  story  concerns  Lady 
Prudence's  final  acceptance  of  an  aged  suitor.  Her  insistence 
on  the  vices  of  young  men  and  on  wisdom  in  the  old  may 
hark  back  to  the  wedding  of  Margaret  Lucas,  aged  twenty- 
two,  and  William  Cavendish,  thirty  years  her  senior.^ 

1  "  To  the  Readers,"  prefixed  to  Plays,  1668.  ^  ^ct  III,  scene  i. 

8  Compare  The  World's  Olio,  p.  136,  where  she  says  a  woman  should  marry 
at  twenty,  but  a  man  not  until  fifty,  for  by  then  he  will  have  gained  some 
knowledge ;  and  Natures  Picture,  p.  678,  reiterates  the  former  judgment. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  229 

The  Presence  has  for  its  heroine  an  imaginative  Princess, 
who  finds  that  a  common  mariner  is  her  dream-hero.  The 
Emperor  disapproves  of  this  match  but  himself  falls  in  love 
with  the  sailor,  when  that  gentleman  proves  to  be  a  woman  in 
disguise.  Later  the  existence  of  two  persons,  twin  brother 
and  sister,  is  discovered,  and,  as  they  are  children  to  the  Em- 
peror of  Persia,  a  double  wedding  is  easily  arranged.  Various 
courtiers  and  gentlewomen  form  the  attendant  court :  Spend- 
all  and  Mode  marry  old  women,  after  the  latter  has  made  sure 
that  the  young  ladies  will  accept  any  man  at  all ;  Conversant 
and  Observer  join  themselves  to  Quick-wit  and  Self-conceit; 
Madamoisel  Bashful  is  won  by  the  Lord  of  Loyalty,  though 
she  incurs  criticism  for  going  abroad  with  him  unescorted,  — 
one  cannot  but  wonder  whether  this  too  is  a  reminiscence  of 
events  at  Saint  Germains.  In  and  out  of  The  Presence  runs 
the  Princess's  Fool,  at  times  vaguely  recalling  Shakespeare's 
Feste.  Though  how  much  inferior  to  Feste's  quip,  ''Take 
away  the  fool,  gentleman,"  ^  is  the  verbose  ''  No,  carry  the 
Princess  to  the  Emperor's  Chamber,  and  let  her  there  be  whipt, 
for  she  is  more  Fool  than  I ;  for  she  is  in  love  with  a  Dream, 
and  I  am  in  love  with  a  Princess."  ^  Typical  of  the  Duchess's 
method  —  or  rather  lack  of  it  —  are  certain  Scenes^  twenty-nine 
in  number,  "  designed  to  be  put  into  the  Presence,  but  by 
reason  I  found  they  would  make  that  Play  too  long,  I  thought 
it  requisite  to  Print  them  by  themselves."  Some  of  these 
additions  develop  Loyalty's  courtship  of  Bashful,  who,  much 
like  the  Duchess,  was  sent  to  the  court  "  to  learn  to  discourse, 
and  to  refine  her  behaviour  and  to  elevate  her  Spirit."  ^  The 
remaining  superfluous  scenes  are  occupied  with  a  new  story, 
which  follows  the  fortunes  of  Monsieur  Underward.  On 
his  father's  death  he  is  sold  and  then  married  to  an  old  hag, 

1  Twelfth  Night,  Act  I,  scene  v.  ■  Scene  x. 

2  The  Presence.  Act  I,  scene  vii. 


230  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

that  the  Buyer  may  gain  her  portion.  This  wife  later  dies, 
whereupon  Underward  marries  rich  Madam  Petitioner  and 
retires  into  the  country,  much  to  the  disgust  of  his  servant, 
Tom  Diogenes.  There  are  numerous  short  digressions  inter- 
woven :  against  gaming, ^  on  office-buying  and  on  favorites,^ 
on  funeral  rites,^  and  on  the  body  politic,  which  is  anatomized 
according  to  Hobbes's  Leviathan  principles.^  Two  scenes  near 
the  end  are  very  fittingly  written  by  Newcastle,  to  describe 
the  excellences  of  country  life  and  no  doubt  to  justify  his 
withdrawal  from  London  activities. 

The  Bridals  begins  with  the  weddings  of  Sir  William  Sage 
and  Sir  John  Amorous  to  Lady  Vertue  and  Lady  Coy  respec- 
tively. Monsieur  Courtly,  much  annoyed  by  the  attentions  of 
women  in  general,  falls  desperately  in  love  with  Vertue,  all  in 
vain.  Masters  Longlife  and  Aged  try  to  keep  their  witty  son 
and  daughter  apart,  on  the  ground  that  ''  great  Wits  for  the 
most  part  have  few  Children,  but  what  their  brain  produces, 
which  are  Ideas,  Inventions  and  Opinions  .  .  .  and  the  produc- 
tion of  these  Incorporeal  Children  hinders  the  production  of 
Corporeal  Children."  ^  Here  the  Duchess  seems  again  to  sound 
a  personal  note,  but  at  any  rate  the  two  young  people  in  ques- 
tion elope  and  are  soon  forgiven  by  their  fathers.  Mimick,  a 
fool,  plays  considerable  share  in  The  Bridals  with  his  arith- 
metical calculations  ^  and  his  pretended  orations,^  while  in 
one  scene  which  is  unspeakably  low  he  goes  quite  beyond  the 
pale  of  respectability.^  No  commentary  on  Restoration  indeli- 
cacy could  be  more  striking  than  such  work  from  the  pen  of 
the  noble  and  virtuous  Margaret  Cavendish.  The  Convent  of 
Pleasure  is  written  in  a  more  poetic  vein  than  the  Duchess's 
other  dramas.    Lady  Happy  decides  to  forswear  the  world  and 

1  Scene  ix.  *  Scene  xvi.  '  Act  III,  scene  ii. 

*  Scene  xii.  ^  Act  II,  scene  iii.  *  Act  IV,  scene  v. 

•  Scene  xvii.  *  Act  II,  scene  i. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  231 

shuts  herself  up  in  a  convent,  where  men  are  not  allowed. 
One  gentleman  disguises  himself  as  a  Princess,  gains  entrance, 
and  wins  Happy's  love  before  he  is  discovered.  This  simple 
plot  is  made  the  framework  for  a  short  entertainment  set- 
ting forth  the  evils  of  matrimony,  ^  for  a  pastoral  of  shepherds 
and  shepherdesses,  and  for  a  marine  scene  with  the  Princess 
as  Neptune,  Lady  Happy  as  a  sea-goddess.^  Throughout 
the  whole  play  a  large  amount  of  verse  occurs,  none  more 
satisfactory  than  a  song  of  Happy's  in  the  last-mentioned 
character.  The  Duchess  actually  seems  stirred  by  her  theme, 
when  she  writes  : 

My  cabinets  are  oyster-shells,    ' 

In  which  I  keep  my  Orient  pearls, 

To  open  them  I  use  the  tide, 

As  keys  to  locks,  which  opens  wide. 

The  oyster-shells  then  out  I  take ; 

Those,  orient-pearls  and  crowns  do  make. 

And  modest  coral  I  do  wear, 

Which  blushes  when  it  touches  air. 

On  silver  waves  I  sit  and  sing. 

And  then  the  fish  lie  listening : 

Then  sitting  on  a  rocky  stone, 

I  comb  my  hair  with  fishes  bone ; 

The  whilst  Apollo,  with  his  beams. 

Doth  dry  my  hair  from  wat'ry  streams. 

His  light  doth  glaze  the  water's  face, 

Makes  the  large  sea  my  looking  glass. 

So  when  I  swim  on  waters  high, 

I  see  myself  as  I  glide  by : 

But  when  the  sun  begins  to  burn, 

I  back  into  my  waters  turn. 

And  dive  unto  the  bottom  low  : 

Then  on  my  head  the  waters  flow, 

In  curled  waves  and  circles  round  ; 

And  thus  with  waters  I  am  crown'd. 

1  Act  III,  scenes  ii-x. 

2  Act  IV,  scene  i. 


232  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

After  The  Convent  of  Pleasure  the  1668  volume  is  brought 
to  a  conclusion  with  some  fragments  headed  A  Piece  of  a 
Play,  the  Duchess  states  it  is  one  "which  I  did  intend  for 
my  Blazing-World  and  had  been  printed  with  it,  if  I  had 
finish 'd  it ;  but  before  I  had  ended  the  second  Act,  finding 
that  my  Genius  did  not  tend  that  way,  I  left  that  design ;  and 
now  putting  some  other  Comedies  to  the  Press,  I  suffer  this 
Piece  of  One  to  be  publish'd  with  them."  ^  She  also  intended 
a  farce  to  accompany  her  play  but  never  got  any  further  than 
naming  the  characters.  In  the  two  acts  of  the  drama  proper 
we  see  Lord  Bear-man  and  Sir  Puppy  Dog-man  trick  them- 
selves out  in  the  latest  fashions  to  please  their  mistress,  Lady 
Monkey.  Dog-man  is  rejected  and  unceremoniously  transfers 
his  attention  to  Lady  Leviret,  already  wooed  by  Sir  Politick 
Fox,  Monsieur  Satyr,  and  Monsieur  Ass.  A  strong  propensity 
towards  satire  comes  out  in  such  a  passage  as  that  where  Lord 
Bear-man  enters,  ''all  Accoutred  in  the  mode,  and  all  in  the 
mode,  careless  and  with  Congies."  2 

Bear-man :  Sir  Politick  Fox-man,  my  dear  and  obliging  friend,  how 
do  I  love  thee !  for  thou  art  the  most  meritorious  person  in  the 
whole  World. 

This  fragment  brings  to  an  end  the  Duchess's  dramatic  work, 
which  is  of  far  greater  amount  than  value.  Her  genius  did 
not  tend  towards  a  form  of  composition  subject  to  so  many 
and  such  strict  qualifications  as  playwriting,  nor  did  she 
have  any  conception  of  depicting  character,  which  is  the 
backbone  of  that  art.  Judged  as  drama,  her  two  volumes 
of  plays  are  worthless.  What  they  do  contain,  is  here  and 
there  a  bit  of  poetry,  a  well-put  gnomic  phrase,  or  some  satir- 
ical exposition  of  contemporary  society.  Occasionally  a  per- 
sonal reference  is  discoverable,  but,  above  all,  the  Duchess's 

1 "  Advertisement."  *  Act  II,  scene  i. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  233 

mental  state,  her  ideals  and  her  ideas,  shine  forth  from  the 
disconnected  plots  and  impossible  personages  of  her  imagina- 
tion. Yet  what  is  gained  from  perusing  these  plays  hardly 
repays  the  time  and  labor  necessary  to  extract  the  wheat  from 
the  chaff.  Repetitions  and  involved  discussions  weary  one's 
intellect,  orations  and  *'  dialogue-discourses  "  tire  the  brain,  and 
twenty-six  plays  are  required  to  relate  that  which  could  have 
been  told  us  in  as  many  pages.  The  most  important  fact  to 
be  deduced  from  this  whole  phantasmagoria  is  the  simplest  as 
well  as  the  most  evident  —  the  Duchess  tried  her  hand  at  play- 
writing  and  failed.  Here  for  once  contemporary  judgment 
was  justified  and  has  been  sustained  by  posterity. 

Not  unrelated  to  her  dramatic  activities  was  a  book  this 
authoress  published  in  1662  or  1663,^  under  the  title  of  Ora- 
tions of  Divers  Sorts,  Accomodated  to  Divers  Places,  At  first 
glance,  such  a  volume  seems  decidedly  original  and  indeed  it 
is  unusual,  but  one  must  remember  that  in  the  plays  inci- 
dental orations  on  various  topics  were  of  common  occurrence. 
The  Duchess  evidently  took  delight  in  writing  them,  they 
offered  her  an  opportunity  to  express  her  *'  conceptions,"  and 
therefore  it  was  natural  she  should  project  a  collection  of  these 
speeches.  They  are  all  short  but  number  one  hundred  and 
eighty  (divided  into  fifteen  sections),  so  that  they  form  a  small 
folio.  The  introductions  as  usual  deserve  attention.  Newcastle 
writes  to  his  wife  with  half -jocular  kindliness  :  2 

Were  all  the  Grecian  Orators  alive, 
And  swarms  of  Latines,  that  did  daily  strive 
With  their  perfum'd  and  only  tongues  to  draw 
The  deceiv'd  people  to  their  Will  and  Law 


1  Some  copies  are  dated  one  year  and  some  the  other.  See  Diet.  Nat. 
Biog.,  Firth,  p.  xxvi,  and  Harvard  Copy  (1663).  Mr.  Henry  E.  Huntington 
has  a  copy  of  each  date. 

^  "  To  the  Lady  Marchioness  of  Newcastle  on  her  Book  of  Orations." 


234  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

How  short  would  all  this  be,  did  you  but  look 
On  this  admired  Ladies  witty  Book ! 
All  Europ's  Universities,  no  doubt, 
Will  study  English  now,  the  rest  put  out. 

The  Duchess  herself  describes  her  detractors :  ^ 

The  truth  is,  they  are  a  sort  of  Persons  that  in  Playes  preferr  Plots 
before  Wit  and  Scenes  before  Humours;  in  Poems,  Rime  before 
Similizing  and  Numbers  before  Distinguishing ;  in  Theology,  Faction 
before  Faith,  and  Sophistry  before  Truth ;  in  Philosophy,  Old  Authors 
before  New  Truths,  and  Opinions  before  Reason.  And  in  Orations 
they  preferr  Artificial  Connexions  before  Natural  Eloquence. 

That  is  to  say,  the  Duchess's  lack  of  restraint  in  writing  was 
noticed  by  her  contemporaries,  and  she  was  very  justly  criti- 
cized for  an  exuberant  fancy  in  need  of  formal  repression. 

''  A  Praefatory  Oration  "  states  that  the  orations  were  written 
''rather  to  benefit  my  Auditors,  than  to  delight  them,"  but 
further  on  the  authoress  hopes  that  both  ends  may  be  achieved, 
a  combination  of  the  utile  and  duke  again.  Part  I  consists  of 
"  Orations  to  Citizens  in  a  chief  City  concerning  Peace  and 
War,"  different  speakers  counselling  different  actions  in  a  given 
situation.  Part  II,  "  Orations  in  the  Field  of  War,"  are  ad- 
dressed to  soldiers  under  all  the  conceivable  conditions  favor- 
able to  speechmaking.  Part  III,  "  Orations  to  Citizens  in  the 
Market  Place,"  wanders  far  afield  in  the  three  speeches  con- 
cerning liberty  of  conscience,  which  conclude  that  sects  are  all 
very  well  if  they  submit  to  the  State.^  Number  ii  is  "An 
Oration  against  those  that  lay  an  Aspersion  upon  the  Retire- 
ment of  Noble  men  "  and  concludes  that  whether  it  be  caused 
by  affronts  or  not,  no  one  should  criticize.  If  there  is  a  single 
theme  of  prevailing  occurrence  in  the  Duchess's  work,  surely 
it  is  this  pique  at  the  slights  which  brought  about  her  lord's 

1  "  To  the  Readers  of  my  Works." 

2  Orations  12-14. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  235 

retirement  from  the  court.  Part  IV,  "  Several  Causes  Pleaded 
in  Several  Courts  of  Judicature,"  contains  pleadings  for  mur- 
der, adultery,  theft,  and  inheritance.  Several  of  the  "  Speeches 
to  The  King  in  Council "  deal  with  two  brothers  condemned 
to  death,  who  are  finally  pardoned  because  they  killed  their 
sister  to  wipe  out  her  dishonor.^  Oration  7  emphasizes  the 
importance  of  trade  as  Newcastle  did  in  the  ''  Little  Book." 
Numbers  9  to  12  give  advice  how  to  treat  common  peti- 
tioners, the  conclusion  being  to  hold  them  in  hand  until  the 
entire  army  is  ready  for  action.  Part  VI  is  "  Orations  in  Courts 
of  Majesty,  From  Subjects  to  their  King  and  From  the  King 
to  his  Subjects,"  when  the  people  are  rebellious,  discontented, 
or  submissive.  All  these  political  tracts  are  based  on  the 
Hobbesian  conception  that  a  monarch  is  the  sine  qua  non 
of  government. 

Part  VII  becomes  more  individual  with  its  "  Speeches  of 
Dying  Persons,"  of  which  Number  2,  ''A  Daughters  Dying 
Speech  to  her  Father,"  may  be  quoted  to  show  the  Duchess's 
general  style  in  this  volume  : 

Father,  farewell !  And  may  that  life  which  issues  from  my  young 
and  tender  years  be  added  to  your  age !  may  all  your  grief  be  buried 
in  my  grave,  and  may  the  joys,  pleasures  and  delights,  that  did  attend 
my  life,  be  servants  unto  yours!  may  comfort  dry  your  eyes,  God 
cease  your  sorrows,  that  though  I  die,  you  may  live  happily.  Why  do 
you  mourn  that  death  must  be  your  son-in-law  ?  since  he  is  a  better 
husband,  than  any  you  could  choose  me,  or  I  could  choose  myself ;  it 
is  a  match  that  Nature  and  the  Fates  have  made ;  wherefore  be  con- 
tent, for  it  is  not  in  your  power  to  alter  the  decrees  of  fate  for  destiny 
cannot  be  opposed,  but  if  you  could,  you  would  rob  me  of  the  happi- 
ness the  Gods  intend  me ;  for  though  my  body  shall  dwell  with  death, 
my  soul  shall  dwell  in  heaven ;  and  holy  angels  that  are  my  marriage 
guests,  will  conduct  it  to  that  glory  for  which  you  have  cause  to  joy, 
and  not  to  grieve ;  for  all  creatures  live  but  to  die,  but  those  that  are 
blessed  die  to  live ;  and  so  do  I.    Farewell. 

1  Orations  2-5. 


236  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Twenty-eight  '* Funeral  Orations"  compose  Part  VIII,  the 
most  remarkable  of  which  is  '*A  Post-Riders  Funeral  Oration," 
for  '*  could  his  soul  ride  post  on  death  to  heaven,  as  his  body 
rid  post  on  a  horse  to  death,  he  might  outstrip  many  a  soul 
that  is  gone  before  him."  ^  In  the  *'  Funeral  Oration  of  a 
Student,"  the  Duchess  says  that  this  man  was  half  dead  before 
and  that  now  his  soul  has  escaped.  Part  IX  is  made  up  of  four 
"Marriage  Orations,"  Part  X  of  ''Orations  to  Citizens  in  the 
Market  Place."  The  last  of  these,  "  An  Oration  for  the  Liberty 
of  Women,"  introduces  Part  XI,  ''  Femal  Orations,"  in  which 
the  problem  to-day  called  Feminism  is  debated  pro  and  con. 
We  have  already  seen  the  Duchess  rebelling  against  women's 
inabilities,  and  here  she  argues  from  opposite  sides  the  ques- 
tion of  her  sex's  emancipation.  These  speeches  are  about 
evenly  divided  in  number,^  though  Mr.  Bickley  says  that  vic- 
tory lies  '*  with  the  advocates  of  passive  femininity."  ^  They 
have  the  last  word  certainly,  and  one  may  imagine  that  their 
creator  sympathized  with  them,  not  by  inclination  but  by  what 
she  felt  the  force  of  necessity.  Margaret  Cavendish  would 
have  liked  to  see  women  leading  armies  as  they  did  in  her 
imagination,  yet  she  did  not  believe  that  their  natures  fitted 
them  for  such  tasks.  In  the  OrationSy  too,  her  scheme  is  pro- 
fessedly dramatic,*  so  that  no  final  opinion  need  be  formulated 
after  different  points  of  view  have  been  expressed. 

Part  XII,  ''  Orations  in  Country  Market-Towns,  where 
Country  Gentlemen  meet,"  begins  with  arguments  in  favor  of 
country  life  but  degenerates  into  a  drinking  bout,  concluding 

1  Oration  13. 

2  Out  of  seven  speeches  three  are  violently  for,  three  are  against,  and 
one  is  cravenly  neutral. 

*  The  Cavendish  Family,  p.  125,  where  he  wrongly  says  there  are  two  books 
of  orations,  one  for  men  and  one  for  women. 

*  "  My  Orations  for  the  most  part  are  Declamations,  wherein  I  speak  Pro 
and  Con,  and  Determine  nothing."  —  "  The  Preface  "  to  CCXI  Sociable  Letters. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  237 

with  the  "  Speech  of  a  Quarter  drunk  Gentleman  "  and  the 
"  Speech  of  a  Half  drunken  Gentleman."  Part  XIII  contains 
'*  Orations  in  the  Field  of  Peace,"  dealing  with  rural  industry, 
and  Part  XIV,  *'  Orations  in  a  Disordered  and  Unsettled  State 
or  Government."  The  latter  is  naturally  based  on  Hobbes's 
theory  of  a  commonwealth  and  makes  no  original  suggestions 
in  regard  to  restoring  a  stable  organization.  The  last  speech 
in  this  group,  "A  Generals  Oration  to  his  Chief  Command- 
ers," states  that  in  the  present  condition  of  war  ten  bullets  out 
of  every  eleven  miss  their  mark.  Part  XV,  ''  Scholastical  Ora- 
tions," completes  the  three  hundred  and  nine  pages  of  this 
strange  volume,  which,  like  many  of  the  Duchess's  other  works, 
is  more  interesting  by  reason  of  its  existence  than  for  any  in- 
trinsic excellence.  These  orations  are  well  enough  in  their 
way,  but  it  is  such  an  undramatic,  monotonous  way  that  they 
have  practically  no  claim  upon  posterity.  It  was  their  author's 
habit  to  lay  hold  upon  an  idea,  to  envelop  it  with  her  formless 
images,  and  to  hammer  at  it  continuously.  She  followed  this 
formula,  with  more  or  less  success,  in  her  poems,  her  philoso- 
phy, and  her  plays ;  the  Orations  exemplify  the  same  process 
on  a  smaller  scale. 

IV 

CCXI  SOCIABLE  LETTERS  (1664)  AND  THE  BLAZING 
WORLD  (1666) 

In  1664  Margaret  Cavendish  put  forth  still  another  kind  of 
literature  —  her  epistolary  volume,  the  CCXI  Sociable  Letters} 
We  have  already  seen  how,  after  her  first  book  of  plays  was 
finished,  she  began  to  produce*  these  imaginary  letters,  com- 
posing over  sixty  at  first.    One  hundred  was  the  number  she 

1  Fifty-one  of  these  letters  are  reprinted  in  Everyman's  Library,  and  twenty- 
two  of  these  fifty-one  also  appeared  in  pages  235-284  of  Mr.  Jenkins's  selec- 
tions, TTie  Cavalier  and  his  Lady. 


238  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

hoped  to  complete,  but  her  muse  once  started,  it  could  not 
stop  until  the  extraordinary  number  of  two  hundred  and  eleven 
had  been  written.  Newcastle  introduces  them  with  his  cus- 
tomary eulogy  in  verse,  and  an  unnamed  admirer  (possibly  the 
authoress  herself)  rhymes  as  follows :  ^ 

This  Lady  only  to  her  self  she  Writes 
And  all  her  Letters  to  her  self  Indites ; 
For  in  her  self,  so  many  Creatures  be, 
Like  many  Commonwealths,  yet  all  Agree. 

The  Duchess  explains  that  she  has  composed  this  book  be- 
cause she  could  not  work,^  ''  I  mean  such  Works  as  Ladies  use 
to  pass  their  Time  withall,  and  if  I  Could,  the  Materials  of 
such  Works  would  cost  more  than  the  Work  would  be  worth, 
besides  all  the  Time  and  Pains  bestow'd  upon  it.  You  may  ask 
me,  what  Works  I  mean ;  I  answer.  Needle-works,  Spinning- 
works,  Preserving-works,  as  also  Baking,  and  Cooking-works, 
as  making  Cakes,  Pyes,  Puddings  and  the  like,  all  of  which  I 
am  Ignorant  of ;  and  as  I  am  Ignorant  in  these  Imployments, 
so  I  am  Ignorant  in  Gaming,  Dancing  and  Revelling.  But 
yet,  I  must  ask  you  leave  to  say,  that  I  am  not  a  Dunce  in  all 
Imployments,  for  I  Understand  the  Keeping  of  Sheep,  and 
Ordering  of  a  Grange,  indifferently  well,  although  I  do  not 
Busie  my  self  much  with  it,  by  reason  my  Scribling  takes 
away  the  most  part  of  my  Time.  Perchance  some  may  say, 
that  if  my  Understanding  be  most  of  Sheep,  and  a  Grange,  it 
is  a  Beastly  Understanding ;  My  answer  is,  I  wish  Men  were 
as  Harmless  as  most  Beasts  are,  then  surely  the  World  would 
be  more  Quiet  and  Happy."  This  particular  indignation  against 
humanity  is  due  to  criticisms  that  had  been  passed  upon  her 
previous   books,   which  she  defends   one  by  one  with  some 

1  "  Upon  her  Excellency  the  Authoress." 

2  "  To  his  Excellency  the  Lord  Marquess  of  Newcastle." 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  239 

minuteness.  Then  fearing  adverse  comment  on  the  present 
volume,  our  authoress  anticipates  it  by  a  poem,  "  To  the  Cen- 
sorious Reader." 

The  scheme  of  her  work  is  clearly  stated  in  Letter  I : 

Madam,  —  You  were  pleas'd  to  desire,  that,  since  we  cannot  con- 
verse personally,  we  should  converse  by  letters,  so  as  if  we  were  speak- 
ing to  each  other,  discoursing  our  opinions,  discovering  our  designs, 
asking  and  giving  each  other  advice ;  also  telling  the  several  accidents, 
and  several  imployments  of  our  home-affairs,  and  what  visits  we  re- 
ceive, or  entertainments  we  make,  and  whom  we  visit,  and  how  we 
are  entertain'd;  what  discourses  we  have  in  our  gossiping-meetings, 
and  what  reports  we  hear  of  publick  affairs,  and  of  particular  persons, 
and  the  like ;  so  that  our  letters  may  present  our  personal  meetings  and 
associatings. 

In  another  place  we  are  told  that  the  reason  these  effusions 
are  cast  "  in  the  Form  of  Letters,  and  not  of  Playes,  is,  first, 
that  I  have  put  forth  Twenty  Playes  already,  which  number 
I  thought  to  be  Sufficient,  next,  I  saw  that  Variety  of  Forms 
did  Please  the  Readers  best,  and  that  lastly  they  would  be  more 
taken  with  the  Brevity  of  Letters,  than  the  Formality  of  Scenes, 
and  whole  Playes,  whose  Parts  and  Plots  cannot  be  Understood 
till  the  whole  Play  be  Read  over,  whereas  a  Short  Letter  will 
give  a  Full  Satisfaction  of  what  they  Read."  ^  A  careful 
peruser  of  the  Duchess's  books,  then,  will  expect  to  find  little 
novelty  in  these  "  Sociable  Letters  "  beyond  their  form,  and 
such  proves  to  be  the  case.  Their  subjects  we  have  already 
found  to  repletion  throughout  her  earlier  writings,  although 
this  collection  is  unique  in  the  diversity  of  its  range.  Almost 
every  side  of  Margaret  Cavendish's  literary  activity  finds  some 
expression  here,  with  a  corresponding  confusion  as  the  in- 
evitable result.  None  among  her  works  better  synthesizes 
her  complete  accomplishment,  none  would  be  more  amazing 
to  the  uninitiated. 

1  "  The  Preface." 


240  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Perhaps  the  commonest  theme  in  these  epistles  is  women, 
their  characteristics  and  their  abihties.  As  usual,  the  Duchess 
has  no  very  high  opinion  of  her  sex's  wisdom,^  but  she  still 
is  ambitious  enough  to  envy  men's  greater  capacities .^  Women 
are  too  much  occupied  with  gossip  ^  and  dancing,  romances  and 
courtships,*  too  completely  overruled  by  the  vagaries  ^  of  tyran- 
nic fashion,^  for  their  minds  to  be  more  than  *'  shops  of  small- 
wares,  wherein  some  have  pretty  toyes,  but  nothing  of  any 
great  value."  "^  Feminine  influence  must  come  indirectly,  for 
''  not  only  Wives  and  Mistresses  have  prevalent  power  with 
Men,  but  Mothers,  Daughters,  Sisters,  Aunts,  Cousins,  nay 
Maid-Servants  have  many  times  a  persuasive  power  with  their 
Masters,  and  a  Land-lady  with  her  Lodger,  or  a  she-Hostess 
with  her  he-Guest ;  yet  men  will  not  believe  this,  and  't  is  the 
better  for  us,  for  by  that  we  govern  as  it  were  by  an  insensible 
power,  so  as  men  perceive  not  how  they  are  Led,  Guided  and 
Rul'd  by  the  Feminine  Sex."  ^  Some  instances  of  this  fact 
are  given  in  other  letters,^  but  most  marriages  discussed  by  the 
Duchess  do  not  turn  out  so  well.  In  one  case  divorce  is 
narrowly  averted,  ^^  there  are  several  matches  of  convenience,^^ 
while  censorious  wives,^^  fickle  husbands, ^^  and  general  incom- 
patibility ^^  disturb  many  marital  relationships.  Sir  G.  C.  (for 
the  characters  in  this  book  are  designated  by  initials)  has  a 
terrific  altercation  with  his  wife,  because  ''  the  Cook  knowing 
his  Master  loved  not  rost  Beef,  sent  in  a  Chine  of  rost  Beef 
to  the  Table,  and  when  her  Guests  were  all  Set,  and  beginning 
to  Eat,  she  was  very  angry,  to  have,  as  she  thought  her  Feast 

1  Letter  IX.  »  Letter  XVI. 

a  Letter  XXVII.  »  Letters  XII,  CIV,  CX. 

8  Letter  XCI.  lo  Letters  CLIII,  CLV. 

4  Letter  XXI.  H  Letters  LXXIX,  CLXXV. 

5  Letter  CXXVIIL  12  Letter  CIII. 

6  Letter  LXIII.  is  Letter  XXXV. 

7  Letter  X.  w  Letter  LX. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  241 

disgraced  with  an  old  English  fashion,  and  not  only  an  Old, 
but  a  Countrey  fashion,  to  have  Beef  serv'd  to  their  Table."  ^ 
Jealousy  is  the  root  of  most  domestic  evil,  as  was  exemplified 
by  a  woman  2  who  lived  next  door  to  the  Newcastles  during 
their  exile.^  Her  husband  flirted  with  one  of  the  Duchess's 
maids,  at  first  stuffing  flowers  through  a  hole  in  the  door 
between  their  gardens  and  afterwards  throwing  a  handkerchief 
filled  with  sweetmeats  into  the  girl's  room  at  night.*  The 
maid's  confession  of  ignorance  whence  these  trifles  came 
finally  pacified  the  irate  wife,  though  not  until  considerable 
time  and  attention  had  been  expended  upon  that  matter. 

Jealousy,  indeed,  is  a  common  failing  among  human  beings, 
not  only  jealousy  in  love,^  but  of  women  towards  one  another,^ 
and  a  general  envy  of  the  powerful."^  Bragging,  too,  is  fre- 
quently found  in  this  world  ^  and  gaming  as  well,  especially  at 
tennis,  which  seems  to  be  played  out  of  covetousness,  not  for 
recreation  or  exercise  :  ^ 

Tennis  is  too  Violent  a  Motion  for  Wholsome  Exercise,  for  those  that 
Play  much  at  Tennis,  impair  their  Health  and  Strength,  by  Wasting 
their  Vital  Spirits  through  much  Sweating,  and  weaken  their  Nerves 
by  overstraining  them,  iieither  can  Tennis  be  a  Pastime,  for  it  is  too 
Laborious  for  Pastime,  which  is  onely  a  Recreation,  and  there  can  be 
no  Recreation  in  Sweaty  Labour. 

Bad  critics,^^  busybodies,^^  officious  will-makers,^  and  courte- 
sans^ come  in  for  their  share  of  condemnation,  but  especial  op- 
probrium gets  heaped  upon  the  Puritans.    A  burlesque  of  their 

1  Letter  XXXII.  2  Letter  CXXIV. 

*  Because  of  the  jealous  wife's  letter  of  complaint  "  being  in  another  Lan- 
guage, I  could  not  read  it." 

*  A  window  was  open  on  account  of  the  heat,  and  this  made  the  occurrence 
possible.  »  Letter  CI. 

«  Letters  XXIII,  CVIII.  10  Letter  CIX. 

6  Letters  CV,  CLXXI.  n  Letter  CX. 

7  Letter  XXXI.  12  Letter  CVII. 

«  Letters  XXII,  LXIV.  i»  Letters  XXXVI,  LVII. 


242  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

sermons  occurs,^  and  it  is  remarked  that  "  those  ministers 
preach  more  their  own  words  than  God's,  for  they  interpret 
the  Scripture  to  their  own  sense,  or  rather  to  their  factious 
humours  and  designs ;  and  after  their  sermons,  their  female 
flocks  gossip  Scripture,  visiting  each  other  to  confer  notes 
and  make  repetitions  of  the  sermons,  as  also  to  explain  and 
expound  them.  For,  first  the  minister  expounds  the  Scripture, 
and  then  the  women-hearers  expound  the  sermon ;  so  that 
there  are  expoundings  upon  expoundings,  and  preaching  upon 
preaching,  insomuch  as  they  make  such  a  medley  or  hash  of 
the  Scripture,  as  certainly  the  right  and  truth  is  so  hidden  and 
obscured  that  none  can  find  it."^  A  religious  woman,  Mrs.  P.  I., 
urges  long  extemporaneous  prayers,^  but  the  Duchess  does  not 
approve  of  them : 

I  can  hardly  believe  God  can  be  pleased  with  so  many  words,  for 
what  shall  we  need  to  speak  so  many  words  to  God,  who  knows  our 
thoughts,  minds  and  souls,  better  than  we  do  our  selves  ?  Christ  did 
not  teach  us  long  prayers,  but  a  short  one,  nay,  if  it  were  lawful  for 
men  to  similize  God  to  his  creatures  (which  I  think  it  is  not),  God 
might  be  tired  with  long  and  tedious  petitions  or  often  repetitions; 
but,  Madam,  good  deeds  are  better  than  good  words,  in  so  much  as 
one  good  deed  is  better  than  a  thousand  good  words.* 

These  reflections  on  Puritanism  show  that  the  Civil  War 
was  never  far  from  Margaret  Cavendish's  thoughts,  and,  more- 
over, she  often  mentions  it  expressly.^  Her  desire  that  the 
commons  should  be  subordinated,^  her  exclamations  against 
duelling  "^  and  upon  the  necessity  of  exact  titles  ^  depend  more 
or  less  upon  that  great  event.  It  broke  up  many  friendships,^ 
confused  preachers  with   soldiers,  ^^  and  left  in   its  wake  a 

1  Letter  LXXVL  «  Letter  LXV. 

2  Letter  XVIL  '  Letter  LXVIII. 

8  Letter  LI.  «  Letter  C LXXVL 

*  Letter  LIX.  »  Letter  CXX. 

6  Letters  IX,  XVI,  XL,  CXIX.  1°  Letter  XL. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  243 

contempt  for  learned  men.^  This  last  evil  was  of  course  magni- 
fied into  incredible  proportions  by  the  Duchess,  who  believed 
that  poets  and  philosophers  were  the  happiest  as  well  as  the 
wisest  people  on  earth  .^  She  planned  to  bring  up  any  children 
of  hers  in  accordance  with  that  principle,^  meanwhile  devot- 
ing her  talents  to  its  establishment.  The  most  fanciful  and 
consequently  in  some  ways  the  most  characteristic  letter  in  her 
collection  describes  a  banquet  of  poets,  at  which  she  was  the 
only  woman  present.^  Their  food  and  appointments  were  suit- 
able to  the  occasion,  and  afterwards  they  all  walked  up  Par- 
nassus for  exercise  and  looked  at  the  surrounding  landscape 
through  perspective  glasses.  Another  time  our  authoress  imag- 
ined that  she  was  empress  of  all  the  world,^  and  yet  again  her 
absent-mindedness  got  her  into  serious  trouble  :  ^ 

For  I  one  day  sitting  a  Musing  with  my  own  Thoughts,  was  Con- 
sidering and  Pondering  upon  the  natures  of  Mankind,  and  Wondering 
with  my  Self,  why  Nature  should  make  all  Men  some  wayes  or  other 
Defective,  either  in  Body,  or  Mind,  or  both,  for  a  Proof  I  Chose  out 
One  whom  I  thought  the  freest  from  Imperfections,  either  in  Mind, 
or  Body,  which  was  the  Lady  A.  N.  and  I  took  Pen  and  Paper,  and 
Writ  down  all  the  Defects  I  could  Think  or  had  Observed  in  her,  and 
upon  an  other  all  the  Excellencies  she  was  Indued  with,  by  Nature, 
Heaven,  and  Education,  which  last  Pleased  me  so  Well,  as  I  was 
resolved  to  send  her  a  Copy  in  a  Letter ;  but  when  I  was  to  send  her 
the  Letter,  both  the  Papers  lying  upon  my  Table,  I  mistook  the  right 
Paper  that  was  in  her  Praise  and  sent  that  which  was  in  her  Dispraise, 
never  reading  it  when  I  sent  it. 

First  and  last  the  Duchess  tells  us  a  good  deal  about  herself 
in  the  CCXI  Sociable  Letters.  Her  melancholy,"^  her  bashful- 
ness,^  and  her  retired  life^  are  all  noticed,  together  with  the 

1  Letter  CLXIX.  «  Letter  LXVI. 

2  Letter  XIV.  '  Letter  VIIL 

«  Letter  LXXV.  8  Letter  CXXXVIL 

*  Letter  XCIX.  »  Letters  XXIX,  XC,  CXLVIL  CLVIII. 

»  Letter  CXCVII. 


244  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

ill  health  that  inevitably  followed  lack  of  exercise.^  One  also 
suspects  Margaret  Cavendish  of  figuring  as  the  Lady  V.  R., 
who,  when  she  is  sick,  '*doth  like  the  man  that  was  in  a 
Storm,  who  in  the  time  of  Danger  promised  the  Blessed 
Virgin  Mary,  to  Offer  to  her  Altar  a  Candle  as  Big  and  as 
Long  as  the  Mast  of  the  Ship,  if  ever  he  came  to  Shore ;  so 
the  Lady  V.  R.  when  she  is  Sick,  promises,  if  ever  she  Recover, 
she  will  take  the  Air,  and  Use  Exercises,  but  being  Restored 
to  Health,  she  Forgets  her  Promise,  or  only  Looks  out  of  a 
Window  for  Once  or  Twice,  and  Walks  Two  or  Three  turns 
in  a  Day,  in  her  Chamber."  ^  Sometimes  the  Duchess  dis- 
cusses Plutarch,^  and  again  she  holds  forth  with  her  customary 
eloquence  on  servants,^  orators,^  or  the  educational  value  of 
toys.^  In  this  last  epistle  may  be  detected  a  lurking  regret  at 
her  own  childlessness,  which  is  confirmed  by  a  scornful  diatribe 
against  pregnant  women's  affectations''^  and  against  excessive 
wish  for  offspring.  Feminine  nature  might  well  have  hidden 
the  chagrin  of  disappointing  her  husband  under  the  assertion 
that,  ''  Many  times  Married  Women  desire  Children  as  Maids 
do  Husbands  rnore  for  Honour  than  for  Comfort  or  Happi- 
ness." ^  More  abstractly  and  also  more  platitudinously  we  are 
informed  that  beauty  is  transitory,^  that  happiness  lies  within 
us,^^  and  that  wisdom  comes  with  age.^^  As  usual  the  Duchess 
emphasizes  the  necessity  of  faith, ^  because  God,  who  disposes 
all  things,^^  is  beyond  our  understanding.  ''  O  Foolish  and 
Conceited  Man !  "  ^^  she  exclaims,  and  again,  *'  Man  is  so  Pre- 
sumptuous, as  to  Assimilize  God,  as  also  to  Pretend  to  know 

1  Letter  CXIX.  8  Letter  XCIII. 

2  Letter  CXXX.  «  Letter  CLXXX. 

3  Letters  XXV,  CLXXXVII.  lo  Letter  CII. 

4  Letters  LXI,  CLXXIX.  "  Letters  XX,  XXIV. 

5  Letters  XXVII,  XXVIII,  CXVII.  12  Letter  XXXVIL 
«  Letter  CLII.  I8  Letter  LXXIV. 

7  Letter  XLVII. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  245 

what  God  sayes,  making  him  to  Speak  like  Man ;  also  to 
express  him  to  have  Passions ;  but  if  God  be  Absolute  and 
Incomprehensible,  it  is  an  High  Presumption  to  Assimilize 
God  to  any  Creature."  ^  The  Church  of  England  seems  to 
her  the  most  uncontaminated  creed  in  spite  of  too  much  lay 
reading,^  although  "  one  may  be  my  very  good  Friend,  and 
yet  not  of  my  opinion,  everyone's  Conscience  in  Religion  is 
betwixt  God,  and  themselves,  and  it  belongs  to  none  other."  ^ 
This  breadth  or  weakness  of  religious  belief  is  not  echoed  by 
Newcastle  in  discussing  the  heathen,  who  "are  Govem'd  by 
Lies  and  Fables,"*  yet  he  too  admits  that  "every  Man  hath 
his  Weak  and  his  Strong  Side,  and  if  he  do  Compare  him- 
self with  another,  he  doth  it  not  Justly,  for  he  Compares  his 
Strong  Parts  with  the  other  mans  Weak  Parts,  and  it  seems 
Truth  when  so  Compared." 

A  good  many  of  the  Duchess's  letters  deal  with  those  meta- 
physical conceptions  which  lie  behind  her  philosophical  books.^ 
Atoms,^  vacuum,"^  the  planets,^  are  discussed,  and  diseases 
occupy  no  less  than  seven  epistles.^  The  properties  of  cream 
receive  some  attention,^^  and  it  is  explained  that  standing  tires 
one  more  than  walking,  because  "when  any  one  Stands  still, 
the  Nerves  and  Sinews  are  Stretch 'd  straight  out  at  Length, 
but  when  one  Walks  or  Moves,  they  have  Liberty,  as  being 
Unbent  and  Unstretch'd."  ^^  Her  Philosophical  and  Physical 
Opinions  is  specifically  defended  ^2  ^nd  her  Orations  rather 
consciously    depreciated    in    a    letter    that    must    have    been 

1  Letter  CLXX.  2  Letter  LXXXVII.  »  Letter  XVL 

*  Letter  CLXXXIV.    He  also  quotes  a  saying  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney's: 

"  Hath  a  man  any  good  thing  in  him  ?   Love  him  for  that,  for  there  are  many 

that  have  none." 

6  Letter  CLVII.  "^  Letter  CLXL 

«  Letter  CLIX.  8  Letters  CXXXV,  CXXXVII. 

9  Letters  CXXXII,  CXXXVI,  CXXXIX,  CXL,  CXLIX,  CCVIII,  CCIX. 
10  Letters  CLIV,  CLX. 
"  Letter  CLVL  "  Letter  CXLIV. 


246  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

written  before  its  publication.^  Prefatory  epistles  alone  ought  to 
be  used  for  self-praise  she  thinks,^  although  satirical  writers 
employ  such  material  in  the  body  of  their  work  and  thus  re- 
veal their  own  complacency.^  Margaret  Cavendish  is  so  sure 
that  a  man  can  be  known  by  his  writings^  that  she  under- 
takes considerable  literary  criticism  in  the  *'  Sociable  Letters." 
Romances  are  always  scorned  as  demoralizing  and  vapid ;  ^ 
complimentary  poems  have  *'  seldom  much  Wit  or  Fancy, 
onely  Flattery,  Rime  and  Number  "  ;  ^  new  authors  gain  little 
applause  at  home,  especially  among  students,  who  ''  despise  all 
New  Works,  and  only  delight  in  Old  Worm-eaten  Records."  "^ 
The  Scriptures  are  no  fit  subject  for  a  layman  to  treat,^  nor 
does  Scriptural  paraphrasing  command  much  respect :  ^ 

I  cannot  say  but  it  may  be  pleasing  to  read,  but  I  doubt  whether 
it  will  be  well  to  write  it;  for  whosoever  doth  heighten  the  sacred 
scriptures,  by  poetical  expressions,  doth  translate  it  to  the  nature  of 
a  romance,  for  the  ground  of  a  romance  is  for  the  most  part  truth,  but 
upon  those  truths  are  feignings  built ;  and  certainly  the  Scripture  and 
feignings  ought  not  to  be  mixed  together,  for  so  holy  a  truth  ought 
not  to  be  express'd  fabulously ;  wherefore  in  my  opinion  no  subject 
is  so  unfit  for  poetical  fancies  as  the  Scriptures,  for  though  poetry  is 
divine,  yet  it  ought  not  to  obstruct  and  obscure  the  truth  of  sacred 
historical  prose. 

I  The  use  of  initials  in  this  work  is  often  very  puzzling. 
Lord  B.,  for  instance,  who  was  learned,  eloquent,  witty,  and 
wise,  and  whose  writings  have  kindled  the  brains  of  others,  ^^ 
suggests  at  once  Lord  Bacon.  Sir  W.  D.  may  well  be  Sir 
William  Davenant;  and  his  heroic  poem,  which,  unlike 
older  examples  of  that  genre,  is  quite  probable,  coincides 
with   Gondibert :  ^^ 

1  Letter  CLXXV.  6  Letters  LXX,  LXXVII.  »  Letter  CXXIX. 

2  Letter  LXXIX.  «  Letter  LXXII.  ^  Letter  LXIX. 

«  Letter  LXXIII.  '  Letter  LXXVIII.  "  Letter  CXXVII. 

4  Letter  CXXVL  s  Letter  LXXXVI. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  247 

Of  all  the  Heroick  Poems  I  have  read,  I  like  Sir  W.  Ds  as  being 
Most  and  Nearest  to  the  Natures,  Humours,  Actions,  Practice,  Designs, 
Effects,  Faculties,  and  Natural  Powers,  and  Abilities  of  Men  or  Human 
Life,  containing  no  Impossibilities  or  Improbabilities :  Indeed  such  an 
Heroick  Poem  it  is,  that  there  cannot  be  found  any  Fault  therein, 
unless  he  seem'd  to  have  too  much  Care  or  Pains  taken  in  the  Expres- 
sion of  his  Descriptions.  .  .  .  But  had  the  Language  been  as  Easie,  as 
Fine,  and  had  not  those  Choice  Expressions  been  so  Closely  Compact, 
but  were  as  Usual,  as  his  Descriptions  are  Natural,  certainly  it  had 
been  a  President  for  all  Heroick  Poems. 

S.  A.'s  contemporary  history  of  Charles  I  is  censured  for  mud- 
dling the  figures  in  regard  to  Newcastle's  expenditures  when 
he  entertained  the  King  at  Welbeck  and  Bolsover ;  ^  the 
Duchess  guarantees  to  set  that  matter  straight  in  her  forth- 
coming biography,  a  promise  which  we  know  she  carried  out 
to  the  letter.  Meanwhile  she  compares  her  husband  in  valour 
to  Caesar,  in  fancy  to  Ovid  (whom  she  vastly  prefers  to 
Virgil),2  and  in  dramatic  authorship  to  Shakespeare.^ 

The  latter  author  comes  in  for  more  particular  and  more 
discriminating  criticism  than  is  usually  meted  out  by  our 
authoress :  ^ 

Shakespear  did  not  want  wit,  to  express  to  the  life  all  sorts  of 
persons,  of  what  quality,  profession,  degree,  breeding,  or  birth  soever ; 
nor  did  he  want  wit  to  express  the  divers,  and  different  humours,  or 
natures,  or  several  passions  in  mankind  ;  and  so  well  he  hath  expressed 
in  his  playes  all  sorts  of  persons,  as  one  would  think  he  had  been 
transformed  into  every  one  of  those  persons  he  hath  described ;  and 
as  sometimes  one  would  think  he  was  really  himself  the  clown  or 
jester  he  feigns,  so  one  would  think,  he  was  also  the  king,  and  privy 
counsellor;  also  as  one  would  think  he  were  really  the  coward  he 
feigns,  so  one  would  think  he  were  the  most  valiant,  and  experienced 
soldier ;  who  would  not  think  he  had  been  such  a  man  as  his  Sir  John 
Falstaff'i  and  who  would  not  think  he  had  been  Harry  the  Fifth? 
&  certainly  /uh'us  Caesar,  Augustus  Caesar,  and  Antonius  did  never 

1  Letter  CLXIV.  »  Letter  CLXIL 

2  Letter  CXLVI.  *  Letter  CXXIII. 


248  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

really  act  their  parts  better,  if  so  well,  as  he  hath  described  them,  and 
I  believe  that  Antonius  and  Brutus  did  not  speak  better  to  the  people, 
than  he  hath  feign'd  them :  nay,  one  would  think  that  he  had  been 
metamorphosed  from  a  man  to  a  woman,  for  who  would  describe 
Cleopatra  better  than  he  hath  done,  and  many  other  females  of  his 
own  creating,  as  Nan  Page,  Mrs.  Page,  Mrs.  Ford,  the  doctor's  maid, 
Bettrice,  Mrs.  Quickly,  Doll  Tearsheet,  and  others,  too  many  to  relate  ? 
and  in  his  tragick  vein,  he  presents  passions  so  naturally,  and  misfor- 
tunes so  probably,  as  he  peirces  the  souls  of  his  readers  with  such  a 
true  sense  and  feeling  thereof,  that  it  forces  tears  through  their  eyes, 
and  almost  persuades  them  they  are  really  actors,  or  at  least  present 
at  those  tragedies.  Who  would  not  swear  he  had  been  a  noble  lover, 
that  could  woo  so  well  ?  and  there  is  not  any  person  he  hath  described 
in  his  book,  but  his  readers  might  think  they  were  well  acquainted 
with  them.  .  .  .  Shakespear's  wit  and  eloquence  was  general,  for,  and 
upon  all  subjects,  he  rather  wanted  subjects  for  his  wit  and  eloquence 
to  work  on,  for  which  he  was  forced  to  take  some  of  his  plots  out  of 
history,  where  he  only  took  the  bare  designs,  the  wit  and  language 
being  all  his  own ;  and  so  much  he  had  above  others,  that  those,  who 
writ  after  him,  were  forced  to  borrow  of  him,  or  rather  to  steal  from  him. 

Some  of  these  ''  Sociable  Letters "  were  written  after  the 
Newcastles'  return,  as  there  are  fehcitations  over  that  event  ^ 
and  a  note  on  hearing  that  "  the  ship  was  drowned  wherein  the 
man  was  that  had  charge  and  care  of  my  playes,  to  carry  them 
into  E.  to  be  printed,  I  being  then  in  A."^  Other  epistles 
reflect  experiences  upon  the  Continent:  women's  enforced 
travel,^  trepidation  over  a  return  home,*  the  courtesy  due  to 
creditors,^  with  comments  on  Holland  and  the  Dutch .^  Certain 
Antwerp  descriptions  are  redolent  of  life  there :  ^ 

I  am  so  full  of  fear,  as  I  write  this  letter  with  great  difficulty,  for  all 
this  city  hatii  been  in  an  uproar,  and  all  through  a  factious  division  be- 
twixt the  common  council,  and  those  they  call  the  Lords,  which  are  the 
higher  magistrates.  The  common  people  gather  together  in  multitudes, 

1  Letter  LXXXIV.  6  Letter  XLI. 

2  Letter  CXLIII.  «  Letter  CXV. 

«  Letter  XCIX.  ^  Letter  CLXXII. 

*  Letters  CXLI,  CLXV. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  249 

pretending  for  the  right  of  their  privileges,  but  it  is  thought  the  design 
is  to  plunder  the  merchants'  houses,  and  the  churches.  ...  I  am  ex- 
tremely afraid,  insomuch  that  at  every  noise  I  hear,  if  I  be  not  with  my 
husband  I  run  to  find  him  out,  so  that  I  write  this  letter  but  by  starts. 

The  climate  of  Antwerp  seemed  very  severe  to  the  Duchess, 
for  she  frequently  complains  about  cold  weather  in  her  ac- 
counts of  sleighing  and  sliding.^  One  day  her  husband's  per- 
suasion brought  her  *'  out  of  the  city,  as  without  the  walls,  to 
see  men  slide  upon  the  frozen  moat,  or  river,  which  runs,  or 
rather  stands  about  the  city  walls,  as  a  trench  and  security 
thereof;  and  I  being  warm  inclosed  in  a  mantle,  and  easily 
seated  in  my  coach,  began  to  take  pleasure  to  see  them  slide 
upon  the  ice,  insomuch  as  I  wished  I  could,  and  might  slide, 
as  they  did."  2  However,  she  did  not  attempt  that  feat,  but 
when  she  returned  home  her  thoughts  quite  naturally  took  to 
sliding  in  her  brain.  When  fine  weather  came  again,  the 
Duchess  ventured  out,  despite  her  bad  health,  to  see  the  pre- 
Lenten  carnival  which  was  Antwerp's  chief  diversion .^  At 
other  times  travelling  mountebanks  and  actors  visited  the  city,^ 
especially  a  certain  quack  doctor  with  his  fool,  Jaen  Potage. 
Two  women  took  part  in  the  troupe's  performances,  which 
were  so  pleasing  to  the  Duchess  '*as  I  caused  a  Room  to  be 
hired  in  the  next  House  to  the  Stage,  and  went  every  day  to 
see  them."  ^  After  they  were  ejected  from  town,  her  thoughts 
began  to  act  upon  the  stage  of  her  brain,  until  the  magistrates 
of  the  mind  did  away  with  such  follies. 

In  another  Antwerp  letter,  the  Duchess  explains  why  she 
sings  ballads  rather  than  songs  written  by  Newcastle  and  set 
to  music  by  a  Mr.  Duarti.^    Her  modesty  asserts  that,  "the 

1  Letters  CXC-CXCII.  2  Letter  CXCII.  »  Letter  CXCIV. 

*  Letters  CXCIII  and  CXCV.  b  Letter  CXCV. 

^  This  gentleman,  who  was  of  Portuguese  extraction,  is  mentioned  in  the 
Life^  Firth,  p.  67,  and  a  letter  from  him  appears  in  Letters  and  Poems  in  Honouf 
of  the  Duchess^  1676. 


250  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Vulgar  and  Plainer  a  Voice  is,  the  Better  it  is  for  an  Old 
Ballad ;  for  a  Sweet  Voice,  with  Quavers,  and  Trilloes  and 
the  like,  would  be  as  Improper  for  an  Old  Ballad,  as  Golden 
Laces  on  a  Thrum  Suit  of  Cloth,  Diamond  Buckles  on  Clouted 
or  Cobbled  Shoes,  or  a  Feather  on  a  Monk's  Hood ;  neither 
should  Old  Ballads  be  sung  so  much  in  a  Tune  as  in  a  Tone, 
which  Tone  is  betwixt  Speaking  and  Singing."  ^  This  epistle 
is  addressed  to  one  of  Mr.  Duarti's  sisters,  Eleanora  by  name,^ 
and  with  nine  others  makes  up  a  series  written  to  *'  my  Near 
and  Dear  Relatives,  and  Kind  and  Obliging  Friends."  They 
comprise  Letters  CC-CCX  and  include  two  to  Eleanora 
Duarti,^  one  to  Margaret's  ''  Sister  Pye,"  *  and  one  to  her  un- 
married sister  Ann,  warning  against  the  dangers  of  ill-advised 
matrimony.^  "  Sweet  Madam  C.  H."  is  urged  to  return  to  her 
parents,^  and  another  lady  receives  the  customary"^  arguments 
in  favor  of  a  rural  life.^  The  Duchess  wrote  to  her  brother- 
in-law,9  to  a  clergyman,!^  and  to  a  doctor,^  so  that  these  ten 
documents  were  apparently  composed  for  actual  correspondence. 
Letter  CCXI,  the  last  in  this  volume,  is  sent  to  her  fictitious 
friend,  with  apologies  ''for  Mixing  some  other  Letters  with 
those  to  your  self"  and  for  not  including  ''the  answers  to 
those  Letters,  wherein  you  were  pleased  to  Propound  several 
Philosophical  Questions  for  me  to  Resolve."  They  are  so 
long  and  so  particular  that  she  will  make  another  book  out  of 
them,  a  book  which  was  given  to  the  world  that  same  year  as 
Philosophical  Letters.  As  we  have  seen,  it  materially  differs 
from  this  earlier  collection. 

1  Letter  CCII. 

2  The  others  were  called  Katherine  and  Frances. 

3  Letters  CCII  and  CCVI. 

*  Letter  CC.   Her  sister  Catherine  married  Sir  Edmund  Pye. 
6  Letter  CCI. 

6  Letter  CCIV.  ^  Letter  CCV. 

7  Letters  III,  LV,  LXXXII,  CXLII.  1°  Letter  CCVII. 

8  Letter  CCX.  "  Letters  CCVIII,  CCIX. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  251 

The  Duchess's  purpose  in  her  two  hundred  and  eleven 
epistles  was  to  make  them  "  rather  scenes  than  letters,  for  I 
have  endeavoured  under  cover  of  letters  to  express  the  humours 
of  mankind,"^  and,  in  doing  so,  she  made  her  work  of  real 
literary  importance.  Though  its  content  does  not  radically 
vary  from  that  of  her  other  writings,  its  form  and  its  avowed 
intention,  dimly,  gropingly,  but  surely,  foreshadow  the  later 
letter-novels.  Many  series  of  imaginary  letters  paved  the  way 
for  Richardson,  from  the  EpistolcB  Ho-EliancB  to  the  Letters 
of  Eloisa  and  Abe  lard,  but  that  which  Margaret  Cavendish 
contributed  did  not  depend  upon  tradition  or  imitation.  What- 
ever fortuitous  impulse  she  gave  to  this  growing  tendency 
came  entirely  out  of  her  own  inner  consciousness  apart  from 
exterior  influences.  It  has  been  stated  by  M.  Jusserand  that 
the  CCXI  Sociable  Letters  were  especially  important  in  the 
development  of  fictitious  narrative  and  that  they  are  to  be 
regarded  as  almost  an  anticipation  of  Richardson,^  but  that  is 
a  claim  which  even  partiality  cannot  substantiate.  They  are 
too  disconnected,  too  episodic,  too  altogether  typical  of  the 
Duchess  to  be  of  greater  value  than  their  mere  existence  implies. 
Yet  they  are  by  no  means  the  dullest  portion  of  her  work, 
and  they  inspired  Charles  Lamb  to  a  delightful  appreciation 
in  "  The  Two  Races  of  Men."^  ''  But  what  moved  thee,  way- 
ward, spiteful  K.,"  ^  he  implores  an  unprincipled  borrower  of 
books,  ''to  be  so  importunate  to  carry  off  with  thee,  in  spite 
of  tears  and  adjurations  to  thee  to  forbear,  the  Letters  of 
that  princely  woman,  the  thrice  noble  Margaret  Newcastle }  — 
knowing  at  the  time,  and  knowing  that  I  knew  also,  thou  most 
assuredly  wouldst  never  turn  over  one  leaf  of  the  illustrious 

i"The  Preface." 

2  In  his  discussion  of  the  Duchess  in  The  English  Novel  in  the  Time  of 
Shakespeare^  1895,  P-  37^- 
8  Essays  of  Elia,  p.  50. 
*  James  Kenny,  the  playwright. 


252  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

folio  :  —  what  but  the  mere  spirit  of  contradiction,  and  childish 
love  of  getting  the  better  of  thy  friend  ?  —  Then,  worst  cut  of 
all !  to  transport  it  with  thee  to  the  GalUcan  land  — 

Unworthy  land  to  harbor  such  a  sweetness, 

A  virtue  in  which  all  ennobling  thoughts  dwelt, 

Pure  thoughts,  kind  thoughts,  high  thoughts,  her  sex's  wonder." 

The  Duchess's  most  finished  production,  her  Life  of  William 
Cavendishe^  was  published  in  1667,  but  in  the  previous  year 
she  had  brought  out  another  work,  which,  if  not  so  impor- 
tant, was  far  more  typical.  For  in  The  Description  of  a  New 
Worldy  called  The  Blazing  Worlds  appended  to  her  Obser- 
vations upon  Experimental  Philosophy^  our  authoress  at  last 
set  herself  her  proper  task  by  professedly  embarking  on  an 
imaginative  enterprise.  *'  If  you  wonder  that  I  join  a  work 
of  Fancy  to  my  serious  Philosophical  Contemplations,"  she 
writes,  ''think  not  that  it  is  out  of  disparagement  to  Phi- 
losophy; or  out  of  an  opinion,  as  if  this  noble  study  were 
but  a  Fiction  of  the  Mind ;  for  though  Philosophers  may 
err  in  searching  and  enquiring  after  the  Causes  of  Natural 
Effects  and  many  times  embrace  falsehoods  for  Truth ;  yet 
this  doth  not  prove,  that  the  Ground  of  Philosophy  is  merely 
Fiction  ...  for  that  Reason  searches  the  depth  of  Nature 
and  enquires  after  the  true  Causes  of  Natural  Effects ;  but 
Fancy  creates  of  its  own  accord  whatsoever  it  pleases,  and 
delights  in  its  own  work.  The  end  of  Reason  is  Truth ;  the 
end  of  Fancy,  is  Fiction."  Margaret  Cavendish  refuses  to 
believe,  much  less  to  admit,  that  her  philosophy  is  not  based 
upon  scientific  observation,  but  she  indirectly  connects  it  with 
the  realms  of  fantasy  when  she  goes  on  in  this  fashion :  ^ 

Lest  my  Fancy  should  stray  too  much,  I  chose  such  a  Fiction  as 
would  be  agreeable  to  the  subject  I  treated  of  in  the  former  parts ; 
it  is  a  Description  of  a  New  World,  not  such  as  Lucian's,  or  the 

1  "  To  the  Reader,"  prefixed  to  The  Blazing  World. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  253 

Frenchman's  World  in  the  Moon ;  but  a  World  of  my  own  Creating, 
which  I  call  the  Blazing- World :  The  first  part  whereof  is  Romancical, 
the  second  Philosophical  and  the  third  is  merely  Fancy  or  (as  I  may 
call  it)  Fantastical. 

The  romance  begins  with  a  foreigner's  falling  in  love  with 
a  certain  aristocratic  young  lady  and  carrying  her  off  from  the 
seashore  in  a  ship  prepared  especially  for  that  purpose.  They 
set  sail  and  reach  the  pole,  whereupon  all  the  sailors  freeze 
to  death ;  for  this  is  the  juncture  of  our  planet  with  another 
world,  whose  suns  are  so  far  away  that  we  cannot  see  them 
without  strong  telescopes.  Several  men  shaped  like  bears 
presently  come  on  board,  carry  off  the  lady,  and  sink  her 
boat.  They  treat  the  prisoner  kindly  and  send  her  to  their 
emperor  through  the  territory  of  Fox-men  and  Bird-men. 
Her  journey  is  minutely  described,  until  she  reaches  a  pal- 
ace set  on  a  hill,  where  even  freer  rein  is  given  to  the 
Duchess's  imagination.  An  imperial  throne  stands  in  every 
apartment,  a  maze  of  pillars  bewilders  the  stranger,  and  the 
room  of  state  is  paved  with  green  diamonds,  *'  (for  in  that 
World  are  Diamonds  of  all  colours),  the  roof  of  arches  blue 
ones,  a  carbuncle  representing  the  sun.  Out  of  this  room 
there  was  a  passage  into  the  Emperors  Bed-chamber,  the 
walls  whereof  were  of  Jet  and  the  floor  of  black  Marble,  the 
roof  was  of  mother  of  Pearl,  where  the  Moon  and  Blazing- 
stars  were  represented  by  White  Diamonds,  and  his  Bed  was 
made  of  Diamonds  and  Carbuncles."  The  customs  of  this 
country  are  described  at  some  length,  but  they  are  only 
those  of  an  ideal  Hobbesian  commonwealth,  for  "a  Monarchy 
is  a  divine  form  of  Government,  and  agrees  most  with  our 
Religion ;  for  as  there  is  but  one  God,  whom  we  all  unan- 
imously worship  and  adore  with  one  Faith,  so  we  are  re- 
solved to  have  but  one  Emperor  to  whom  we  all  submit 
with  one  obedience." 


254  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

This  Emperor  makes  our  heroine  his  wife,  and  her  first 
proceedings  plunge  us  at  once  into  the  philosophical  section. 
Various  groups  of  subjects  are  summoned  to  answer  her  ques- 
tions. The  Bird-men  are  catechized  of  the  air,  the  Worm-men 
of  the  earth,  the  Fish-men  of  the  sea,  and  each  answers  in 
the  jargon  of  pseudo-science.  The  Ape-men  or  Chemists  dis- 
agree as  to  fundamentals,  but  the  Empress  tells  them  that 
self-moving  matter  is  the  only  cause  of  Nature,  so  that  it  is 
useless  to  quarrel  over  primary  ingredients.  She  finds  that 
the  people  do  not  all  accept  her  beliefs,  and  in  order  to  con- 
vert them  she  builds  two  chapels,  one  of  star-stone,  figuring 
Heaven,  the  other  of  fire-stone  to  represent  Hell ;  from  these 
she  preaches  respective  sermons  of  comfort  and  terror.  Mean- 
while the  Flye-men  tell  her  there  are  Immaterial  Spirits  in 
the  air,  and  she  sends  after  them  to  learn  of  affairs  in  her 
own  world.  They  give  her  what  information  they  can  but 
say  their  immaterial  vehicles  prevent  them  from  taking  an 
active  share  in  physical  life,  for  these  vehicles,  although  some- 
times changed  in  form,  always  cling  to  them.  The  Spirits 
agree  to  make  a  cabbala  for  the  Empress,  and  when  the 
question  of  a  scribe  is  broached  she  chooses  the  soul  of  the 
Duchess  of  Newcastle,  ''  for  the  principle  of  her  Writings,  is 
Sense  and  Reason."  The  Duchess  persuades  the  Empress  to 
write  a  poetical  or  romancical  cabbala,  is  taken  into  high  favor 
and  kept  some  time  in  that  region,  so  that  "  by  this  means  the 
Duchess  came  to  know  and  give  this  Relation  of  all  that 
passed  in  that  rich,  populous  and  happy  world." 

The  Duchess  presently  comes  to  desire  a  world  of  her  own, 
which  according  to  the  Spirits'  advice  she  herself  makes  inside 
of  her,  and  thereafter  this  same  pattern  is  copied  by  the  less 
imaginative  Empress.  Some  time  later  the  sovereign  takes 
a  fancy  to  see  that  world  from  which  the  Duchess  came  and 
leaving  a  spirit  in  her  royal  body  undertakes  an  incorporeal 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  255 

pilgrimage  to  earth.  First  they  visit  the  Grand  Signior,  but 
he  seems  far  inferior  to  the  King  of  England,  who  is  supreme 
not  only  in  politics  but  in  religion  as  well.  At  a  theatre  in 
London  the  Empress  thinks  that  ''  the  Actors  make  a  better 
show  than  the  Spectators,  and  the  Scenes  a  better  than  the 
Actors,  and  the  Musick  and  Dancing  is  more  pleasant  and 
acceptable  than  the  Play  it  self."  Just  as  the  Duchess  ante- 
dated Richardson  in  her  CCXI  Sociable  Letters^  so  here  she 
approaches  the  idea  later  to  be  developed  by  Montesquieu  in 
his  Lettres  Persanes  and  by  Goldsmith  in  his  Citizen  of  the 
World  papers.  To  be  sure,  the  admirable  opportunity  for 
satire  in  a  foreigner's  impressions  of  one's  own  country  goes 
for  almost  nothing  in  the  Duchess's  hands,  but  she  does  not 
let  slip  her  chance  for  fulsome  adulation.  The  travellers  come 
to  court,  where  the  Empress  asserts  that,  ''  in  all  the  Monarchs 
she  had  seen  in  that  World,  she  had  not  found  so  much 
Majesty  and  affability  mixt  so  exactly  together,  that  none  did 
overshadow  or  eclipse  the  other ;  and  as  for  the  Queen,  she 
said,  that  Vertue  sate  Triumphant  in  her  face  and  Piety  was 
dwelling  in  her  heart  and  that  all  the  Royal  family  seem'd 
to  be  endued  with  a  Divine  splendor :  but  when  she  had 
heard  the  King  discourse,  she  believ'd,  that  Mercury  and 
Apollo  had  been  his  Celestial  instructors ;  and  my  dear  Lord 
and  Husband,  added  the  Duchess,  has  been  his  Earthly 
Govemour." 

The  Duke  himself  is  soon  discovered  performing  at  manage 
and  sword-play  in  his  dismantled  castle.  "  But  the  Duchess's 
soul  being  troubled,  that  her  dear  Lord  and  Husband  used 
such  a  violent  exercise  before  meat,  for  fear  of  overheating 
himself,^  without  any  consideration  of  the  Emperess's  soul,  left 
her  aereal  Vehicle,  and  entred  into  her  Lord.  The  Emperess's 
soul  perceiving  this,  did  the  like :   And  then  the  Duke  had 

1  See  the  Life,  Part  III,  Section  15  (Firth,  p.  112),  for  the  same  sentiment. 


256  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

three  Souls  in  one  Body ;  and  had  there  been  but  some  such 
Souls  more,  the  Duke  would  have  been  like  the  Grand- Signior 
in  his  Seraglio,  onely  it  would  have  been  a  Platonick  Seraglio." 
Soon  a  Spirit  comes  to  tell  the  Empress  her  husband  is 
melancholy  without  her,  and  she  prepares  to  return  to  the 
Blazing  World.  The  Duchess  begs  her  to  make  an  agree- 
ment between  Newcastle  and  Fortune,  to  whom  access  is 
gained  by  the  Spirits  after  both  ladies  leave  this  earth. 
Prudence  and  Honesty  uphold  the  Duke,  but  Folly  and 
Rashness  are  quite  as  influential  with  fickle  Fortune.  The 
Duchess,  weeping,  departs  for  her  home  again,  after  urging 
the  Empress  to  continue  a  monarchical  form  of  government. 
At  the  beginning  of  Part  II  the  Duchess  is  summoned,  to  give 
advice  concerning  a  hostile  invasion  of  the  Empress's  native 
world.  Such  excellent  counsel  does  she  offer  that  the  intruders 
are  completely  routed  by  a  complicated  mechanism  of  fishes, 
birds,  submarine  vessels,  and  the  wondrous  fire-stone  which  is  set 
aflame  by  water.  The  Duchess's  spirit  inhabited  the  Empress's 
soul  during  this  expedition,  after  which  the  two  friends  held 
long  and  confidential  dialogues.  In  reply  to  a  query  about 
her  peculiar  costumes,  ''the  Duchess's  Soul  answered,  she 
confessed  that  it  was  extravagant,  and  beyond  what  was  usual 
and  ordinary ;  but  yet  her  ambition  being  such,  that  she  would 
not  be  like  others  in  anything  if  it  were  possible ;  I  endeavour, 
said  she  to  be  as  singular  as  I  can ;  for  it  argues  but  a  mean 
Nature  to  imitate  others ;  and  though  I  do  not  love  to  be  imi- 
tated if  I  can  possibly  avoid  it ;  yet  rather  than  imitate  others, 
I  should  chuse  to  be  imitated  by  others ;  for  my  nature  is 
such,  that  I  had  rather  appear  worse  in  singularity  than  better 
in  the  Mode." 

The  Emperor  of  the  Blazing  World  builds  an  elaborate 
golden  stable  for  a  hundred  horses,  in  copy  of  what  Newcastle 
would  do  if  he  were  rich,  one  side  adorned  with  gems  and 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  257 

the  floor  strewn  with  golden  sand.  He  wants  a-  theatre  also, 
where  the  Duchess  thinks  her  plays  might  be  performed : 

The  Wits  of  these  present  times  condemned  them  as  uncapable  of 
being  represented  or  acted,  because  they  were  not  made  up  according 
to  the  Rules  of  Art  ...  it  is  the  Art  and  Method  of  our  Wits  to  de- 
spise all  Descriptions  of  Wit,  Humour,  Actions  and  Fortunes  that  are 
without  such  Artificial  Rules  ...  my  Playes  may  be  acted  in  your 
Blazing-World  when  they  cannot  be  acted  in  the  Blinking-World 
of  Wit 

Finally  the  Duchess's  soul  does  tear  itself  away  from  her 
friends  and  goes  back  to  dwell  in  its  body.  There  is  nothing 
more  nafve  in  this  whole  ingenuous  fancy  than  the  bit  of  real 
life  to  which  we  are  treated  at  the  conclusion  of  her  spiritual 
adventures.  Newcastle  had  patiently  to  listen  to  his  wife's 
endless  romancing  and  to  hear  how  he  might  possess  some  of 
the  Emperor's  excellent  horses  if  only  a  passage  to  the  Blaz- 
ing World  could  be  discovered.  With  a  touch  of  his  cele- 
brated wit  **  the  Duke  smilingly  answered  her,  That  he  was 
sorry  there  was  no  Passage  between  those  two  Worlds ;  but 
said  he,  I  have  always  found  an  Obstruction  to  my  Good 
Fortunes." 

In  an  "  Epilogue  to  the  Reader  "  the  Duchess  proclaims  the 
humbleness  of  her  muse,  for  though  she  might  have  written 
of  heroes  and  war,  her  themes  are  peace  and  ''the  figure  of 
Honest  Margaret  Newcastle  which  now  I  would  not  change 
for  all  this  terrestrial  world."  A  new  ruler  must  henceforth 
find  a  new  kingdom,  "  for  concerning  the  Philosophical  World, 
I  am  Emperess  of  it  myself ;  and  as  for  the  Blazing  World, 
it  having  an  Emperess  already  who  rules  it  with  great  wisdom 
and  conduct  which  Emperess  is  my  dear  Platonick  Friend." 
The  feminine  note  in  such  writing  is  as  unmistakable  in  the 
exaggerated  fantasy  as  in  the  rambling  and  disconnected  struc- 
ture, but  it  is  a  note  we  would  not  be  without  in  literature  any 


258  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

more  than  in  every-day  life.  The  Duchess  took  Httle  pains 
to  arrange  her  fancies,  to  trim  or  to  proportion  them ;  The 
Blazing  World  is  made  up  of  one  episode  after  another, 
strung  together  in  the  most  casual  helter-skelter  way,  without 
beginning,  middle,  or  end.  To  analyze  the  confused  result 
would  be  well-nigh  impossible ;  we  can  only  accept  it  as  it 
stands  and  follow  its  winding  course.  Yet  the  exuberant 
imagination  and  absolute  naturalness  behind  this  lack  of 
form  produce  a  charm  which  many  more  perfect  works  of  art 
are  entirely  without.  The  Duchess  wrote  what  she  felt  and 
in  this  instance  attained  a  high  degree  of  success  because  the 
subject  suited  her  method.  Drama  and  science  demand  that 
ingenuity  be  curbed  and  material  selected,  but  pure  fancy 
knows  no  limitations.  Doubtless  The  Blazing  World  would 
have  been  a  more  finished  piece  of  literature  had  its  author 
conformed  somewhat  to  prescribed  rules,  but  then  it  would  in 
large  measure  have  wanted  that  delightful  spontaneity  which 
is  the  very  essence  of  its  particular  distinction. 

The  Duchess  had  unfriendly  critics  in  her  own  day,  as  her 
apologies  show,  but  certainly  no  author  ever  enjoyed  more 
extravagant  praise  while  still  alive.  Her  rank  must  have  been 
an  important  factor  in  this  eulogy,  for  there  is  no  evidence 
that  any  of  her  books  except  the  Life  achieved  an  extensive 
audience.  On  the  contrary,  they  were  apparently  printed  at 
their  writer's  instigation  and  distributed  among  various  indi- 
viduals or  institutions  as  presentation  copies,^  for  in  the  1676 
volume  of  Letters  and  Poems  in  Honour  of  the  Incomparable 
Princess^  Margaret y  Dutchess  of  Newcastle'^  are  to  be  found 

1  Her  books  may  have  been  "the  nuisance  of  the  time  in  which  she  lived," 
but  it  is  not  true  that "  she  reaped  little  but  ridicule."  See  Costello,  Memoirs  of 
Eminent  Englishwomen^  III,  211. 

2  There  is  also  a  1678  publication  Collection  of  Letters  and  Poems  to  the 
late  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  See  Catalogue  of  the  British  Museum^  and 
Wheatley's  Evelyn^  III,  395,  n. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  259 

many  epistles  acknowledging  such  favors.  The  Universities  of 
Leyden,  Cambridge,  and  Oxford,  the  Colleges  of  St.  John's, 
Trinity,!  and  Magdalen,  render  thanks  to  the  Duchess  for  her 
gifts  of  Letters  or  Poems,  the  Life  or  Observations  tcpon  Ex- 
perimental Philosophy,  There  are  numerous  personal  letters, 
some  of  them  from  Kenelm  Digby,  Samuel  Tuke,  and  a  cer- 
tain Thomas  Barlow  (*'a  poor  impertinent  thing  in  Black," 
he  calls  himself),  from  Jasper  Mayne,  Joseph  Glanvill,^  and 
Thomas  Hobbes.  The  last  named  writes  on  February  9,  166 1- 
1662,  concerning  the  Playes  : 

I  have  already  read  so  much  of  it  (in  that  Book  which  my  Lord  of 
Devonshire  has)  as  to  give  your  Excellence,  an  account  of  it  thus  far, 
That  it  is  filled  throughout  with  more  and  truer  Idea's  of  Virtue  and 
Honour  than  any  Book  of  morality  I  have  read.  And  if  some  Comique 
Writers,  by  conversation  with  ill  People,  have  been  able  to  present 
Vices  upon  the  Stage,  more  ridiculously  and  immodestly  by  which 
they  take  their  rabble,  I  reckon  that  amongst  your  Praises. 

On  May  7,  1667,  Walter  Charleton  mentions  the  great  sums  she 
has  expended  on  printing  and  adds  a  questionable  compliment, 
which  the  Duchess  probably  interpreted  in  the  most  favorable 
light.  Her  poetry  is  so  facile,  Charleton  says,  that  **you  do 
not  always  confine  your  Sense  to  Verse ;  nor  your  Verses  to 
Rhythme ;  nor  your  Rhythme  to  the  quantity  and  sounds  of 
Sillables."  The  Duchess's  errors  could  be  pardoned,  but  it  is 
plain  that  they  were  understood. 

These  "Letters  and  Poems"  were  apparently  collected  by 
Newcastle  after  his  wife's  death,  and  among  them  he  included 
any  laudatory  material  that  was  procurable.   Otherwise  one  could 

^  The  master  of  Trinity  in  1663,  ^^^  wrote  with  such  extreme  adulation, 
was  John  Pearson,  afterwards  (1672)  Bishop  of  Chester,  the  writer  on  the  creed. 
See  article  on  the  Duchess  in  Biographia  Britannica,  ed.  Kippis,  Vol.  III. 

2  Glanvill  has  a  book  of  Letters  and  Poems  written  and  sent  to  Margaret, 
Duchess  of  Newcastle  in  Ashmole's  library,  according  to  Wood's  Athenae,  III, 
1252,  n.    No  mention  of  it  occurs  in  the  Ashmolean  Catalogue,  however. 


26o  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

not  account  for  the  presence  of  three  letters  from  Thomas 
Shadwell  relative  to  his  dedication  of  The  Humourists,  with 
an  elegy  on  the  Duchess's  death  from  the  same  hand.^  This 
elaborate  ode  is  very  dull  indeed,  but  the  last  stanza  concerning 
Newcastle's  grief  may  be  cited  to  show  how  Shadwell  comports 
himself  when  he  deviates  into  verse : 

Oh  what  Expedient  can  there  be 
Found  to  support  his  Magnanimity ! 
The  best  of  Husbands,  and  the  noblest  Peer ; 

The  best  of  Generals,  best  of  subjects  too. 
Whose  Arts  in  Peace  as  well  as  War  appear : 

He  knows  how  to  advise,  and  how  to  do ; 
His  Prudence  and  his  Courage  might  uphold 

The  most  decay'd  and  crippled  State, 

And  rescue  it  from  the  Jawes  of  Fate : 
His  Body,  may,  but  Mind,  can  ne're  be  old, 
Him  she  has  left,  and  from  our  sight  is  hurl'd 
And  gloriously  shines  in  the  true  Blazing  World. 

Flecknoe's  verses  on  the  Duchess's  closet  find  an  unsigned  place 
among  these  poems,  while  Sir  George  Etherege's  contribution 
is  the  only  link  that  connects  him  with  the  Cavendishes.  After 
recounting  our  authoress's  literary  exploits,  Etherege  continues : 

This  made  the  great  New-Castle's  Heart  your  prize ; 
Your  Charming  Soul,  and  your  Victorious  Eyes, 
Had  only  pow'r  his  Martial  mind  to  tame. 
And  raise  in  his  Heroick  Breast  a  Flame ; 
A  Flame,  which  with  his  Courage  still  aspires, 
As  if  Immortal  Fewel  fed  those  Fires : 
This  mighty  Chief,  and  your  great  self  made  One, 
Together  the  same  Race  of  Glory  run ; 
Together  on  the  Wings  of  Fame  you  move. 
Like  yours  his  Virtue,  and  like  his  your  Love. 

1  One  panegyric  Newcastle  did  not  include  was  "  To  the  Most  Excellent 
Princesse  The  Dutchess  of  Newcastle.  By  H.  J.  of  Grays  Inne,"  published  1667, 
reprinted  in  the  Bagford  Ballads,  II,  884-885.  Another  by  Elias  Ashmole  is 
in  the  Ashmolean  Library,  according  to  the  Catalogue,  Col.  28,  No.  185,  and 
Col.  1270,  No.  3 ;  it  begins  "Here  lyes  wise,  chast,  hospitable,  humble." 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  261 

Quite  the  best  of  all  these  tributes  is  an  address  **To  the 
Glory  of  her  Sex,  the  Most  Illustrious  Princess,  the  Lady 
Marchioness  of  New-Castle,  upon  her  Most  Admirable  Works." 
Lengthy  as  it  is,  scarcely  a  verse  lacks  some  spark  of  wit  ex- 
pressed in  well-turned  phrase ;  the  single  line,  '*  Truth  never 
was  so  naked,  nor  so  dress'd,"  sums  up  the  Duchess's  work  in 
very  nearly  her  own  spirit.  Its  author  is  not  mentioned,  but  he 
seems  to  have  been  Francis  Fane,  for  another  copy  of  this  poem 
is  signed  with  his  initials.^  Whoever  he  was,  his  work  is  not 
wanting  in  keen  insight  nor  in  an  evident  desire  to  please : 

Now  let  enfranchiz'd  Ladies  learn  to  write, 

And  not  Paint  white  and  red,  but  black,  and  white, 

Their  Bodkins  turn  to  Pens,  to  Lines  their  Locks, 

And  let  the  Inkhorn  be  their  Dressing-box : 

Since,  Madam,  you  have  Scal'd  the  walls  of  Fame, 

And  made  a  Breach  where  never  Female  came, 

Had  men  no  Wit,  or  had  the  World  no  Books, 

Yet  here 's  enough  to  please  the  curious  looks 

Of  Every  Reader :  such  a  General  Strain, 

Would  reinstruct  the  School-boy-world  again, 

Philosophers  and  Poets  were  of  old 

The  two  great  Lights,  that  humane  minds  control'd ; 

The  one  t'  adorn,  the  other  to  explain, 

Thus  Learnings  Empire  then  was  cut  in  twain. 

But  Universal  Wit  and  Reason  joyn's 

To  make  you  Queen :  nor  can  your  sacred  Lines 

Without  a  Paradox  be  well  express'd, 

Truth  never  was  so  naked,  nor  so  dress'd. 

Majestick  Quill !  that  keeps  our  Minds  in  Awe, 

For  Reasons  Kingdom  knows  no  Salique  Law, 

Or  if  that  Law  was  ever  fram'd  'twas  then 

When  Woman  held  the  Distaff  not  the  Pen. 

The  Court,  the  City,  Schools  and  Camp  agree 

Welbeck  to  make  an  University, 

Of  Wit  and  Honour,  which  has  been  the  Stage, 

Since  't  was  your  Lords  the  Heroe  of  this  Age ; 

^  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.f  10  Rep.^  App.  IVy  p.  20. 


262  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Whose  Noble  Soul  is  Steward  to  great  Parts, 
And  do's  dispence  his  Reasons  and  his  Arts, 
His  Wit  and  Power,  his  Greatness,  and  his  Sense, 
With  as  much  Freedom  and  Magnificence, 
As  when  our  English  Jove  became  his  Guest 
And  did  receive  a  more  than  Humane  Feast. 
With  Arts  of  Wit,  he  mixes  those  of  Force 
And  Pegasus  is  his  old  Manag'd  Horse. 
No  wonder  he  excells  all  other  Men ; 
They  but  Nine  Muses  had,  and  he  has  Ten. 
A  Lady  whose  Immortal  Pen  transferrs 
To  our  Sex  Shame  and  Envy,  Fame  to  hers ; 
Whose  Genius  traces  Wit  through  all  her  wayes 
In  abstruse  Notions,  Poems  and  in  Playes. 
Then  why  should  we  the  mouldy  Records  keep 
Of  Plautus,  or  disturb  Ben  Johnson's  Sleep  ? 
The  Silent  Woman  Famous  heretofore 
Has  been,  but  now  the  Writing  Lady  more. 

Still,  despite  this  contemporary  adulation,  a  fair-minded 
critic  can  grant  Margaret  Cavendish's  work  no  very  excessive 
praise.  Yet  he  would  not,  with  Pope,  set  it  in  the  Dunce's 
library,  where. 

Here  swells  the  shelf  with  Ogilby  the  great. 

There  stamp'd  with  arms,  Newcastle  shines  complete.^ 

The  Duchess's  purpose  was  too  sincere  and  too  unusual  for 
her  writings  to  be  completely  discounted,  even  if  their  net 
accomplishment  seems  rather  slight.  Such  an  enormous  amount 
of  material  as  they  contain  also  tends  to  minimize  their  value, 
but  that  accidental  consideration  must  be  dismissed.  If  the 
Duchess  was  to  write  at  all,  she  must  needs  write  without  re- 
straint. No  rules  of  art,  no  other  authors  influenced  her  muse, 
which  soared  wherever  impulse  directed  it.  ''  She  thought  with- 
out system  and  set  down  everything  she  thought,"  ^  one  com- 
mentator   says,   and    another    remarks    upon   her    ^^cacoethes 

1  Dunciad,  I,  lines  1 41-142. 

2  Jenkins  in  The  Cavalier  and  his  Lady,  p.  8. 


THE  WRITINGS  OF  THE  DUCHESS  263 

scribendir  ^  Yet  it  is  this  incurable  desire  to  write  which  gives 
her  a  unique  position  in  English  literature  and  at  the  same 
time  causes  her  most  palpable  defects.  The  good  goes  hand 
in  hand  with  the  bad,  so  that  we  cannot  differentiate  them 
but  must  accept  both  inextricably  entangled.  One  must  read 
the  Duchess's  philosophical  books,  her  plays,  orations,  and 
olios,  by  the  side  of  her  poems,  '*  feigned  stories,"  "  Sociable 
Letters,"  and  "Blazing  Worlds,"  in  order  to  understand  appre- 
ciatively the  mental  processes  that  produced  one  of  our  first 
English  authoresses. 

The  Duchess's  sex  not  only  emphasizes  her  importance  in 
literary  history  but  strongly  affects  her  actual  writings  as  well. 
Women  have  always  been  less  able  than  men  to  confine  their 
feelings  within  the  narrow  limits  required  by  an  art  form ;  they 
will  not  allow  sufficient  tranquillity  in  which  to  recollect  their 
emotion.  Accordingly  Margaret  Cavendish  puts  no  check  upon 
her  imagination  but  permits  it  quite  to  surpass  the  bounds  of 
reason.  In  this  connection  it  is  instructive  to  contrast  her 
work  with  that  of  John  Donne,  with  whose  poetry  she  was 
herself  acquainted.^  Dr.  Donne's  passionate  nature  twisted  and 
contorted  his  medium  of  expression,  but  it  never  let  him  for- 
get our  material  existence.  The  Duchess,  however,  entirely 
transcends  mere  flesh  and  blood,  passing  into  a  terra  incognita 
of  her  own.  Her  fancy  was  so  far  removed  from  things  of 
this  world  that  when  she  gave  it  full  swing  the  result  proved 
confusing  to  readers  and  detrimental  to  aesthetic  excellence. 
Moreover  the  quality  of  this  romancing  was  not  fervent  enough 
to  sweep  the  average  citizen  off  his  feet,  although  a  certain  in- 
herent and  dignified  charm  can  be  unmistakably  felt  through  it 


1  Retrospective  Review,  1853,  I,  332. 

*  She  quotes  lines  35-36  of  TTie  Storm  in  TTie  Lady  Contemplatioji,  Part  II, 
Act  II,  scene  ix,  and  mentions  him  also  in  "  Of  Light  and  Sight"  from  Poems 
and  Fancies. 


264  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

all.  Indeed,  there  is  nothing  more  attractive  in  the  Duchess's 
books  than  that  absolute  ingenuousness  which  characterizes 
them.  Their  lack  of  artistic  regulation  may  be  criticized ;  nay, 
it  must  be  condemned  ;  but  in  compensation  we  gain  an  almost 
unparalleled  naturalness.  Whatever  technical  faults  appear  in 
these  volumes  and  however  far  actual  life  may  be  absent  from 
them,  their  sincerity  remains  indisputable.  Certainly  they  are 
not  great  literature,  but  at  least  they  are  imaginative  and 
genuine. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  DUCHESS   HERSELF 
I 

MARGARET  LUCAS  (1623-1645) 

Apart  from  a  purely  historical  importance,  the  Duchess's 
writings  must  depend  for  their  chief  interest  upon  the  singular 
clarity  with  which  they  depict  their  author.  One  cannot  read 
even  the  Life,  most  normal  of  all  her  works,  without  realizing 
that  here  is  an  astonishing  and  unusual  personality,  while  The 
Blazing  World  convinces  us  that  its  creator  was,  on  one  occa- 
sion at  least,  dangerously  far  from  sanity.  Indeed  the  Duchess 
has  been  long  known  as  ''  Mad  Madge  of  Newcastle,"  ^  and 
there  are  grounds  for  approving  this  epithet.  '*  Great  Wits  are 
sure  to  Madness  near  alli'd,"  in  this  case  means  that  without 
our  authoress's  peculiarities  of  character,  the  world  would  have 
been  without  her  eccentricities  of  literary  production.  In  the 
seventeenth  century  it  required  some  remarkably  strong  stimu- 
lus for  a  woman  of  the  upper  classes  to  undertake  writing  as 
a  serious  occupation,  and  this  impetus  was  furnished  the 
Duchess  by  her  overactive,  unrestrained  imagination.  Modem 
scientists  tell  us  that  insanity  is  the  overdevelopment  of  one 
side  in  an  individual  at  the  expense  of  his  other  constituent 
parts,  and  in  this  sense  the  Duchess  was  most  certainly  in- 
sane. Hers  was  a  warped  and  irregular  growth,  due  largely 
no  doubt  to  certain  inborn  tendencies  and  in  part  to  her 
early  surroundings. 

1  Lower  in  1872  mentions  this  "  nickname  which  her  jealous  (female?)  con- 
temporaries gave  her,"  p.  ix,  but  cites  no  evidence  to  prove  his  assertion. 

26s 


266  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

On  neither  point  could  better  evidence  be  procured  than 
from  the  lady  herself,  who  has  been  pleased  to  give  us  A 
True  Relation  of  my  Birth,  Breeding  and  Life,  Moreover 
she  is  such  a  nafve  writer  that  only  the  most  suspicious  person 
can  refuse  to  grant  her  a  complete  suspension  of  disbelief. 
Often,  to  be  sure,  her  statements  are  not  so  significant  as  the 
fact  that  she  does  set  them  down,  but  in  that  case  her  veracity 
is  only  emphasized  by  her  ingenuous  sincerity.  The  True  Rela- 
tion occurs  as  Book  XI  of  Nature's  Pictures,  and  is  described 
on  the  title-page  as  "a  true  story  at  the  latter  end,  wherein 
*  there  is  no  feignings."  Its  unique  importance  was  early  recog- 
nized, so  that  it  has  been  often  reprinted,  generally  in  con- 
nection with  the  Life,  but  sometimes  by  itself,  as  in  Edward 
Jenkins's  garbled  selections.  The  Cavalier  and  his  Lady,  and 
by  Sir  Egerton  Brydges  at  his  private  press  at  Lee  Priory, 
Kent.^  The  date  of  this  latter,  the  first  modern  edition,  was 
1 8 14,  but  Sir  Egerton  deserves  more  credit  for  resurrecting 
the  document  than  for  his  presentation  of  it,  which  was  un- 
scholarly  and  slipshod.  In  1872  Lower  published  a  careful 
transcription,  while  Firth  has  furnished  the  definitive  and 
most  convenient  form  of  this  autobiography.  Its  original  ap- 
pearance was  in  1656,  four  years  before  Newcastle  returned 
to  England,  and  in  consequence  the  Duchess's  account  of  her 
life  is  far  from  complete.  Her  style,  too,  was  never  more 
rambling  or  disconnected  than  in  this  work,  so  that  one  need 
not  expect  to  find  it  the  historical  document  which  the  life  of 
her  husband  most  certainly  is.  On  the  other  hand,  A  True 
Relation  has  not  the  errors  in  fact  and  judgment  of  her  more 
elaborate  composition,  nor  is  a  personal  memoir  subject  to 
such  strict  qualifications  as  are  demanded  in  authoritative  biog- 
raphy. This  makes  the  Duchess's  account  of  prime  impor- 
tance to  us,  for,  having  already  discussed  the  dates  and  figures 

1  In  1813  Brydges  had  published  Selected  Poems  by  the  Duchess. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  267 

of  her  life,  we  must  now  seek  further  light  upon  what  manner 
of  person  she  was.  But  this  information  is  more  difficult  to 
sift  than  to  acquire. 

The  Duchess's  father  ^  dying  in  her  early  years,  his  widow 
was  left  to  take  charge  of  their  large  family,  which  she  did 
with  eminent  success.  This  lady  is  described  by  her  daughter 
in  such  affectionate  terms  as  to  reflect  credit  alike  upon  parent 
and  child.  Madam  Lucas  lived  to  see  the  ruin  of  her  fortunes 
by  war,  ''and  then  died,  having  lived  a  widow  many  years; 
for  she  never  forgot  my  father  so  as  to  marry  again.  Indeed, 
he  remained  so  lively  in  her  memory,  and  her  grief  was  so 
lasting,  as  she  never  mentioned  his  name,  though  she  spoke 
often  of  him,  but  love  and  grief  caused  tears  to  flow,  and 
tender  sighs  to  rise,  mourning  in  sad  complaints.  She  made 
her  house  her  cloister,  inclosing  herself,  as  it  were,  therein, 
for  she  seldom  went  abroad,  unless  to  church.  .  .  .  She 
was  of  a  grave  behaviour,  and  had  such  a  majestic  grandeur, 
as  it  were  continually  hung  about  her,  that  it  would  strike  a 
kind  of  awe  to  the  beholders,  and  command  respect  from  the 
rudest.  .  .  .  Also  her  beauty  was  beyond  the  ruin  of  time, 
for  she  had  a  well-favoured  loveliness  in  her  face,  a  pleasing 
sweetness  in  her  countenance,  and  a  well-tempered  com- 
plexion, as  neither  too  red  nor  too  pale,  even  to  her  dying 
day,  although  in  years.  And  by  her  dying,  one  might  think 
death  was  enamoured  with  her,  for  he  embraced  her  in  a  sleep, 
and  so  gently,  as  if  he  were  afraid  to  hurt  her.  .  .  .  Like- 
wise my  mother  was  a  good  mistriss  to  her  servants,  taking 
care  of  her  servants  in  their  sickness,  not  sparing  any  cost 
she  was  able  to  bestow  for  their  recovery :  neither  did  she 
exact  more  from  them  in  their  health  than  what  they  with  ease 
or  rather  like  pastime  could  do.    She  would  freely  pardon  a 

1  He  killed  a  certain  Mr.  Brooks  in  a  duel,  and  was  exiled  until  after 
James  I's  accession.    See  Firth,  pp.  155-156. 


268  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

fault,  and  forget  an  injury,  yet  sometimes  she  would  be  angry ; 
but  never  with  her  children,  the  sight  of  them  would  pacify 
her ;  neither  would  she  be  angry  with  others  but  when  she  had 
cause,  as  negligent  or  knavish  servants,  that  would  lavishly  or 
unnecessarily  waste,  or  subtly  and  thievishly  steal.  And  though 
she  would  often  complain  that  her  family  was  too  great  for  her 
weak  management,  and  often  pressed  my  brother  to  take  it  upon 
him,  yet  I  observed  she  took  a  pleasure,  and  some  little  pride, 
in  the  governing  thereof.  She  was  very  skilful  in  leases,  and 
setting  of  lands,  and  court  keeping,  ordering  of  stewards,  and 
the  like  affairs.  Also  I  observed  that  my  mother  nor  brothers, 
before  these  wars,  had  never  any  lawsuits,  but  what  an  attorney 
despatched  in  a  term  with  small  cost,  but  if  they  had  it  was 
more  than  I  knew  of.  But,  as  I  said,  my  mother  lived  to  see  the 
ruin  of  her  children,  in  which  was  her  ruin,  and  then  died."  ^ 
This  is  the  portrait  of  a  quiet,  refined  housewife  (''  femme 
essentielle  "  M.  Montegut  calls  it  2),  and  it  is  also  a  portrait  of 
the  Duchess  with  her  genius  omitted.  Let  us  not  neglect  to 
notice  that  Margaret  Cavendish  was  primarily  a  woman,  and 
only,  after  that,  an  artist : 

For  had  my  brains  as  many  fancies  in  't 
To  fill  the  world,  I'd  put  them  all  in  print: 
No  matter  whether  they  be  well  or  ill  exprest, 
My  Willis  done,  and  that  please  women  best? 

Her  feminine  characteristics  come  out  unmistakably  in  the 
account  of  her  childhood :  * 

As  for  my  breeding,  it  was  according  to  my  birth,  and  the  nature 
of  my  sex ;  for  my  birth  was  lost  in  my  breeding.  For  as  my  sisters 
was  or  had  been  bred,  so  was  I  in  plenty,  or  rather  with  superfluity. 

1  Firth,  pp.  163-165.   M.  Montegut  writes,  "  Le  portrait  que  trace  sa  fiUe  de 
cette  prude  veuve  est  celui  d'une  mistress  Peyser  aristocratique,"  p.  202. 

2  P.  226. 

8  At  the  close  of  Philosophical  Fancies.     See  Walpole's  Catalogue,  ed.  Park, 
III,  154.  4  Firth,  pp.  156-157. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  269 

Likewise  we  were  bred  virtuously,  modestly,  civilly,  honourably,  and 
on  honest  principles.  ...  As  for  our  garments,  my  mother  did  not 
only  delight  to  see  us  neat  and  cleanly,  fine  and  gay,  but  rich  and 
costly ;  maintaining  us  to  the  height  of  her  estate,  but  not  beyond  it. 
For  we  were  so  far  from  being  in  debt,  before  these  wars,  as  we  were 
rather  beforehand  with  the  world ;  buying  all  with  ready  money,  not 
on  the  score.  For  although  after  my  father's  death  the  estate  was 
divided  between  my  mother  and  her  sons,  paying  such  a  sum  of  money 
for  portions  to  her  daughters,  either  at  the  day  of  their  marriage,  or 
when  they  should  come  to  age ;  yet  by  reason  she  and  her  children 
agreed  with  a  mutual  consent,  all  their  affairs  were  managed  so  well, 
as  she  lived  not  in  a  much  lower  condition  than  when  my  father  Uved. 
'Tis  true,  my  mother  might  have  increased  her  daughters'  portions  by 
a  thrifty  sparing,  yet  she  chose  to  bestow  it  on  our  breeding,  honest 
pleasures,  and  harmless  delights,  out  of  an  opinion,  that  if  she  bred 
us  with  needy  necessity,  it  might  chance  to  create  in  us  sharking  quali- 
ties, mean  thoughts  and  base  actions,  which  she  knew  my  father,  as 
well  as  herself,  did  abhor.  Likewise  we  were  bred  tenderly  for  my 
mother  naturally  did  strive,  to  please  and  delight  her  children,  not  to 
cross  or  torment  them,  terrifying  them  with  threats  or  lashing  them 
with  slavish  whips ;  but  instead  of  threats,  reason  was  to  persuade  us, 
and  instead  of  lashes,  the  deformities  of  vice  was  discovered,  and  the 
graces  and  virtues  were  presented  unto  us. 

One  way  in  which  the  graces  were  presented  to  these  chil- 
dren was  by  having  servants  treat  them  with  the  deference 
due  their  position  :  ^ 

Also  we  were  bred  with  respectful  attendance,  every  one  being 
severally  waited  upon,  and  all  her  servants  in  general  used  the  same 
respect  to  her  children  (even  those  that  were  very  young)  as  they  did 
to  herself ;  for  she  suffered  not  her  servants,  either  to  be  rude  before 
us,  or  to  domineer  over  us,  which  all  vulgar  servants  are  apt,  and  oft- 
times  which  some  have  leave  to  do.  Likewise  she  never  suffered  the 
vulgar  serving-men  to  be  in  the  nursery  among  the  nursemaids,  lest 
their  rude  love-making  might  do  unseemly  actions,  or  speak  unhand- 
some words  in  the  presence  of  her  children,  knowing  that  youth  is  apt 
to  take  infection  by  ill  examples,  having  not  the  reason  of  distinguish- 
ing good  from  bad.   Neither  were  we  suffered  to  have  any  familiarity 

1  Firth,  pp.  157-158. 


270  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

with  the  vulgar  servants,  or  conversation :  yet  caused  us  to  demean 
ourselves  with  an  humble  civility  towards  them,  as  they  with  a  dutiful 
respect  to  us.  Not  because  they  were  servants  were  we  so  reserved ; 
for  many  noble  persons  are  forced  to  serve  through  necessity ;  but  by 
reason  the  vulgar  sort  of  servants  are  as  ill-bred  as  meanly  born,  giv- 
ing children  ill  examples  and  worse  counsel.  As  for  tutors,  although 
we  had  for  all  sorts  of  virtues,^  as  singing,  dancing,  playing  or  music, 
reading,  writing,^  working  and  the  like,  yet  we  were  not  kept  strictly 
thereto,  they  were  rather  for  formality  than  benefit;  for  my  mother 
cared  not  so  much  for  our  dancing  and  fiddling,  singing  and  prating 
of  several  languages,  as  that  we  should  be  bred  virtuously,  modestly, 
civilly,  honourably,  and  on  honest  principles. 

The  result  of  this  upbringing  was  a  model  and  unusually 
homogeneous  family.  Of  the  ''  eight  children,  three  sons  and 
five  daughters,  there  was  not  anyone  crooked,  or  any  ways 
deformed,  neither  were  they  dvi^rfish,  or  of  a  giant-like  stature, 
but  every  ways  proportionable ;  likewise  well-featured,  clear 
complexions,  brown  hairs  (but  some  lighter  than  others),  sound 
teeth,  sweet  breaths,  plain  speeches,  tunable  voices  (I  mean 
not  so  much  to  sing  as  in  speaking,  as  not  stuttering,  nor 
wharling  in  the  throat,  or  speaking  through  the  nose,  or 
hoarsely,  unless  they  had  a  cold,  or  squeakingly,  which  impedi- 
ments many  have) :  neither  were  their  voices  of  too  low  a 
strain,  or  too  high,  but  their  notes  and  words  were  tunable 
and  timely."  ^  Margaret's  own  beauty  seems  to  have  been  an 
indisputable  fact,  for  we  have  it  attested  by  such  contemporary 
recorders  as  Pepys^  and  Mrs.  Katherine  Philips.^  This  fact 
may  help  to  explain  Newcastle's  choice  of  a  second  wife  or  the 
amount  of  wonder  that  her  bashfulness  caused  at  court,  but  it 

1  Lower  reads  "  virtuosos,"  according  to  a  written  correction  in  one  copy 
of  the  book. 

2  Letter  CLXXV  in  C CXI  Sociable  Letters  tells  us  that  she  "  never  went  to 
school,  but  only  Learn'd  to  Read  and  Write  at  Home,  Taught  by  an  Antient 
Decayed  Gentlewoman,  whom  my  Mother  kept  for  that  Purpose." 

3  Firth,  p.  164. 

*  Pepys's  Diary,  entry  for  April  26,  1667.  ^  Poems,  1667,  p.  142. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  271 

was  not  a  determining  factor  in  her  life  and  it  had  no  effect 
upon  her  spiritual  growth. 

Of  her  brothers,  the  Duchess  writes :  ^ 

Their  practice  was,  when  they  met  together,  to  exercise  themselves 
with  fencing,  wrestling,  shooting,  and  such  like  exercises,  for  I  observed 
they  did  seldom  hawk  or  hunt,  and  very  seldom  or  never  dance,  or 
play  on  music,  saying  it  was  too  effeminate  for  masculine  spirits. 
Neither  had  they  skill,  or  did  use  to  play,  for  aught  I  could  hear,  at 
cards  or  dice,  or  the  like  games,  nor  given  to  any  vice,  as  I  did  know, 
unless  to  love  a  mistress  were  a  crime,  not  that  I  knew  any  they  had, 
but  what  report  did  say,  and  usually  reports  are  false,  at  least  exceed 
the  truth.  As  for  the  pastime  of  my  sisters  when  they  were  in  the 
country,  it  was  to  read,  work,  walk  and  discourse  with  each  other. 
For  though  two  of  my  three  brothers  were  married  .  .  .  likewise  three 
of  my  four  sisters  .  .  .  yet  most  of  them  lived  with  my  mother,  espe- 
cially when  she  was  at  her  country-house,  living  most  commonly  at 
London  half  the  year,  which  is  the  metropolitan  city  of  England.  But 
when  they  were  at  London,  they  were  dispersed  into  several  houses 
of  their  own,  yet  for  the  most  part  they  met  every  day,  feasting  each 
other  like  Job's  children. 

But  to  rehearse  their  recreations.  Their  customs  were  in  winter 
time  to  go  sometimes  to  plays,  or  to  ride  in  their  coaches  about  the 
streets  to  see  the  concourse  and  recourse  of  people ;  and  in  the  spring 
time  to  visit  the  Spring  Garden,  Hyde  Park,  and  the  like  places ;  and 
some  times  they  would  have  music,  and  sup  in  barges  upon  the  water. 
These  harmless  recreations  they  would  pass  their  time  away  with ;  for 
I  observed  they  did  seldom  make  visits  nor  went  abroad  with  strangers 
in  their  company,  but  only  themselves  in  a  flock  together,  agreeing  so 
well  that  there  seemed  but  one  mind  amongst  them.  And  not  only 
my  own  brothers  and  sisters  agreed  so,  but  my  brothers  and  sisters  in 
law,  and  their  children,  although  but  young,  had  the  like  agreeable 
natures  and  affectionate  dispositions.  For  to  my  best  remembrance 
I  do  not  know  that  ever  they  did  fall  out,  or  had  any  angry  or  unkind 
disputes.  Likewise,  I  did  observe  that  my  sisters  were  so  far  from 
mingling  themselves  with  any  other  company,  that  they  had  no  familiar 
conversation  or  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  families  to  which  each 
other  were  linked  to  by  marriage,  the  family  of  the  one  being  as  great 
strangers  to  the  rest  of  my  brothers  and  sisters  as  the  family  of  the 
other. 

1  Firth,  pp.  1 59-161. 


272  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

And  in  another  place :  ^ 

My  brothers  and  sisters  were  for  the  most  part  serious  and  staid  in 
their  actions,  not  given  to  sport  or  play,  nor  dance  about,  whose  com- 
pany I  keeping,  made  me  so  too.  But  I  observed  that  although  their 
actions  were  staid,  yet  they  would  be  very  merry  amongst  themselves, 
delighting  in  each  other's  company :  also  they  would  in  their  discourse 
express  the  general  actions  of  the  world,  judging,  condemning,  approv- 
ing, commending,  as  they  thought  good,  and  with  those  that  were 
innocently  harmless,  they  would  make  themselves  merry  therewith. 

Truly  this  was  a  narrow  and  circumscribed  existence,  which 
offered  few  opportunities  for  a  wider  experience  in  diverse 
sides  of  life.  Small  wonder  that  Margaret  Lucas  desired  to 
become  a  maid  of  honour  at  Henrietta  Maria's  court,  and 
small  wonder,  too,  that  once  there,  she  was  unable  to  fit  into 
her  new  environment. 

Concerning  her  own  characteristics  the  Duchess  has  this 
further  to  say :  ^ 

I  am  naturally  bashful,  not  that  I  am  ashamed  of  my  mind  or  body, 
my  birth  or  breeding,  my  actions  or  fortunes,  for  my  bashfulness  is 
my  nature,  not  for  any  crime,  and  though  I  have  strived  and  reasoned 
with  myself,  yet  that  which  is  inbred  I  find  is  difficult  to  root  out. 
But  I  do  not  find  that  my  bashfulness  is  concerned  with  the  qualities 
of  the  persons,  but  the  number ;  for  were  I  to  enter  amongst  a  com- 
pany of  Lazaruses,  I  should  be  as  much  out  of  countenance  as  if  they 
were  all  Caesars  or  Alexanders,  Cleopatras  or  Queen  Didos.  Neither 
do  I  find  my  bashfulness  riseth  so  often  in  blushes,  as  contracts  my 
spirits  to  a  chill  paleness.  But  the  best  of  it  is,  most  commonly  it  soon 
vanisheth  away,  and  many  times  before  it  can  be  perceived ;  and  the 
more  foolish  or  unworthy  I  conceive  the  company  to  be,  the  worse  I 
am,  and  the  best  remedy  I  ever  found  was,  is  to  persuade  myself  that 
all  those  persons  I  meet  are  wise  and  virtuous. 

That  must  have  been  a  hard  task  at  court,  where  other  com- 
plications made  it  difficult  for  the  girl.  As  long  as  Henrietta 
Maria  was  at  Oxford,  matters  went  fairly  well,  for  most  of  the 

1  Firth,  pp.  174-175-  ^  Ibid.,  pp.  168-169. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  273 

Lucases  were  there  too ;  but  when  the  Queen  fled  to  France 
Margaret  was  thrown  upon  her  own  resources.  She  had 
always  before  been  supported  by  family  spirit,  but  now  that 
prop  was  gone  and  the  maid  of  honor  had  not  been  trained 
to  do  without  it.  ''  Besides,"  she  says,^  "  I  had  heard  that 
the  world  was  apt  to  lay  aspersions  even  on  the  innocent,  for 
which  I  durst  neither  look  up  with  my  eyes,  nor  speak,  nor 
be  anyway  sociable,  insomuch  as  I  was  thought  a  natural  fool." 
We  have  seen  that  in  her  plays  are  certain  scenes  and  descrip- 
tions which  may  specifically  mirror  incidents  during  this 
period,^  when,  instead  of  improving  as  time  went  on,  she 
continually  withdrew  farther  into  her  shell.  '*  I  never  heeded 
what  was  said  or  practised,  but  just  what  belonged  to  my  loyal 
duty,  and  my  own  honest  reputation.  And,  indeed,  I  was 
so  afraid  to  dishonour  my  friends  and  family  by  my  indis- 
creet actions,  that  I  rather  chose  to  be  accounted  a  fool 
than  to  be  thought  rude  or  wanton.  In  truth,  my  bashful- 
ness  and  fears  made  me  repent  my  going  from  home  to 
see  the  world  abroad,  and  much  I  did  desire  to  return  to 
my  mother  again,  or  to  my  sister  Pye,  with  whom  I  often 
lived  when  she  was  in  London,  and  loved  with  a  supernat- 
ural affection."  3  Her  mother  would  not  permit  Margaret  to 
return ;  hence  she  stayed  on  at  court,  getting  deeper  and 
deeper  into  a  solitary  and  contemplative  life  with  every  day 
which  passed  over  her  head. 

Within  two  years  this  difficult  situation  was  resolved  by  the 
appearance  of  Newcastle  as  a  serious  lover.    Evidently  the 

1  Firth,  p.  161. 

^  Compare  also  the  description  of  a  young,  inexperienced  girl  at  court  in 
Natures  Picture,  p.  339  :  "  When  the  Company  was  called  to  sit  down,  that  the 
Masque  might  be  represented,  every  one  was  placed  by  their  Friends  or  else 
they  placed  themselves.  But  she,  being  unaccustomed  to  those  meetings,  knew 
not  how  to  dispose  of  herself  .  .  .  and  therefore  she  stood  still." 

•  Firth,  pp.  1 61- 1 62. 


274  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

exiled  and  widowed  Marquis  had  made  up  his  mind  to  marry 
some  young  girl,  not  only  that  he  might  have  further  issue, 
as  we  have  seen,  but  also  because  he  "would  choose  such 
a  wife  as  he  might  bring  to  his  own  humours,  and  not  such 
a  one  as  was  wedded  to  self-conceit,  or  one  that  had  been 
tempered  to  the  humours  of  another ;  for  which  he  wooed  me 
for  his  wife  ;  and  though  I  did  dread  marriage,  and  shunned 
men's  company  as  much  as  I  could,  yet  I  could  not  nor  had 
not  the  power  to  refuse  him,  by  reason  my  affections  were 
fixed  on  him,  and  he  was  the  only  person  I  ever  was  in  love 
with.  Neither  was  I  ashamed  to  own  it,  but  gloried  therein. 
For  it  was  not  amorous  love  (I  never  was  infected  therewith, 
it  is  a  disease,  or  a  passion,  or  both,  I  only  know  by  relation, 
not  by  experience),  neither  could  title,  wealth,  power  or  person 
entice  me  to  love.  But  my  love  was  honest  and  honourable, 
being  placed  upon  merit,  which  affection  joyed  at  the  fame  of 
his  worth,  pleased  with  delight  in  his  wit,  proud  of  the  respects 
he  used  to  me,  and  triumphing  in  the  affections  he  professed 
for  me,  which  affections  he  hath  confirmed  to  me  by  a  deed 
of  time,  sealed  by  constancy,  and  assigned  by  an  unalterable 
decree  of  his  promise,  which  makes  me  happy  in  despite  of 
Fortune's  frowns."  ^  Even  here  the  Duchess  is  probably 
telling  the  truth,  for  a  girl  of  twenty  does  not  often  feel 
''amorous  love"  towards  a  man  thirty  years  her  senior.^  A 
combination  of  respect  for  Newcastle's  position,  flattery  at  his 
proposals,  and  —  what  she  does  not  state  —  the  desire  to 
escape  from  an  uncongenial  atmosphere,  must  have  been  the 
causes  for  her  agreeing  to  his  proposals.  If  that  is  the  case, 
one  can  very  easily  understand  how  in  her  plays  the  Duchess 
rails  against  passionate  love  but  was  herself  a  devoted  wife. 

1  Firth,  p.  162. 

2  M.  Montegut,  of  course,  supposes  she  was  deceiving  herself  and  that  the 
affection  was  really  "  amour,"  p.  220.   See  also  First  Duke  and  Duchess,  p.  279. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  275 

The  deep  but  platonic  regard  she  felt  for  the  Marquis  ap- 
pears first  in  the  twenty-one  letters  written  to  him  while  their 
engagement  was  yet  a  secret  and  now  preserved  at  Welbeck 
Abbey.  They  were  privately  reprinted  in  1909  as  pages  5-18 
of  Letters  Written  by  Charles  Lamb's  ^'Princely  Woman,  the 
Thrice  Noble  Margaret  Newcastle''  to  her  Husbandy  etc.  The 
editor,  Richard  William  Goulding,  has  retained  the  original 
speUing,  which,  although  it  presents  some  difficulties,  adds 
greatly  to  the  human  interest  of  these  documents.  They  are 
most  valuable  additions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  time  and 
place,  the  events  and  persons  concerned.  No  better  account 
of  petty,  underhand  bickerings  at  the  exiled  Stuart  court  is  to 
be  desired ;  the  intrigues  of  Newcastle's  office-seeking  are 
nobility  itself  compared  with  these  malevolent  attempts  to  pre- 
vent his  marriage.  The  courtiers  involved  seem  to  have  had 
no  object  beyond  sheer  love  of  mischief -making  and  lack  of 
more  important  occupation.  In  their  small  detached  group  the 
day's  gossip  had  become  of  cardinal  interest,  so  that  a  middle- 
aged  marquis's  evident  attentions  to  the  young  and  bashful 
Margaret  Lucas  perforce  raised  something  of  a  tempest.  People 
began  to  talk  and  to  torment  the  girl,  hinting  that  her  lover 
was  proverbially  inconstant.  Henrietta  Maria  took  offense  be- 
cause she  was  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  proceedings,  while 
Newcastle's  friends  advised  him  against  such  a  match  as  con- 
trary to  his  worldly  advantage.  Of  all  this  we  hear  in  Margaret's 
very  first  letter : 

L  My  Lord,  there  is  but  on  acsident  which  is  death  to  mak  me 
onhappy  ether  to  my  frindes  or  fame  or  your  affection,^  tho  the  last 
I  prefer  equall  to  the  firest,  but  I  fear  others  foresee  we  shall  be 
unfortunat,  tho  we  see  it  not  our  seleves,  or  elles  ther  would  not 
be  such  paynes  takeing  to  unty  the  knot  of  our  affection.  I  must 
confes  as  you  have  had  good  frindes  to  counsell  you,  I  have  had  the 

1  Goulding  reads  "  affeetion  "  here  and  elsewhere,  but  that  can  hardly  be 
correct. 


276  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

like  to  counsell  me  and  tell  me  they  heer  of  your  profesions  of  af ection 
to  me ;  which  they  bed  me  tak  hed  of,  for  you  had  ashured  your  selfe 
to  many  and  was  constant  to  non.  I  answred  that  my  lord  newcastle 
was  to  wis  and  to  honest  to  ingag  himself  to  many,  and  I  hard  the 
qeene  should  tak  it  ell  that  I  ded  not  mak  her  aquainted  befor  I 
had  resolued.  I  asked  of  what ;  they  sayed  of  my  resolution  to  you. 
I  asked  if  I  should  aquant  the  qeene  with  every  complement  that 
was  bestod  on  me,  with  many  other  idell  descouerses,  which  would  be 
to  long  to  Wright,  but  pray  doe  not  think  I  am  inquisitiue  after  such 
friuolus  talk,  for  I  auoyd  company  to  auoyd  ther  discours  .  .  .  they 
they  [sic]  that  tould  you  of  my  mother  has  beter  inteligenc  then  I,  and 
shur,  my  lord,  I  threw  not  my  self  away  when  I  gaue  my  self  to  you, 
for  I  neuer  did  any  act  worthy  of  prays  before,  but  tis  the  natur  of 
thos  that  can  not  be  happy  to  dessir  non  elles  should  be  so,  as  I  shall 
be  in  haueing  you,  and  will  be  so,  in  spit  of  all  malles  [malice],  in  being, 
my  lord,  your  most  humbell  saruant, 

Margreat  Lucas 
pray  lay  the  fait  of  my  wrighting  to  my  pen. 

Soon   the   envious  court  charged  Margaret  with  pursuing 
Newcastle : 

II.  Me  lord,  I  deed  not  dessir  to  deleuer  up  the  intrest  I  had  in  you 
out  of  any  inconstansee  in  me,  but  out  of  a  considdarashoin  of  you ; 
me  lord,  me  lord  widdrington  in  his  aduies  has  don  as  a  nobell  and  a 
true  affectshoinit  frind  would  doe,  yet  I  find  I  am  infinnightly  obleged 
to  you  whos  afectshoins  are  aboue  so  powerfull  a  parswashon;  my 
lord,  if  I  doe  not  send  to  you,  pray  exques  me,  for  if  I  doe,  thay  well 
say  I  parsue  you  for  your  affectshoin,  for  though  I  love  you  extremely 
well,  yet  I  neuer  feard  my  modesty  so  smalle  as  it  would  give  me  leue 
to  court  any  man ;  if  you  pies  to  ask  the  queen,  I  think  it  would  be 
well  understod.  .  .  . 

The  Marquis  evidently  replied  to  this  epistle  with  strictures 
on  Margaret's  caution  and  coolness,  for  she  next  protests  : 

III.  My  lord,  pardon  me  if  I  have  wright  any  thing  that  is  not 
agreable  but  if  I  be  carfuU  in  things  that  may  arise  to  the 
scandall  of  my  repeta[t]ion  is  for  fear  of  a  refleckion,  becaus  I  am 
yours,  for  though  it  is  imposabll  to  keep  out  of  the  rech  of  a  slander- 
ing toung  from  an  enues  parson,  yet  it  tis  in  my  power  to  hender 
them  from  the  aduantag  of  a  good  ground  to  beld  ther  descour[s]es  on, 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  277 

for  know,  me  lord,  saintiarmanes  [Saint  Germains]  is  a  place  of  much 
sencour  [censure]  and  thinks  I  send  to  often ;  me  lord,  I  am  sory  you 
should  think  your  loue  so  much  transends  mine,  but  suer  it  tis  as  un- 
comble  [uncomely]  to  see  a  woman  to  kaind  as  to  see  a  man  to 
necklegant,  but,  me  lord,  I  know  you  are  a  man  of  so  much  honour 
that  I  may  safly  rule  my  actions  by  your  directions.  .  .  . 

Later  she  defends  herself  for  not  having  been  overcivil  to 
Mr.  Porter: 

IV.  My  lord,  I  think  you  haue  a  plot  against  my  healt  in  sending 
so  early,  for  I  was  forst  to  reed  your  leter  be  a  candell  light,  for  ther 
was  not  day  enouf,  but  I  had  rather  reed  your  leter  then  slep,  and  it 
doth  me  more  good ;  my  lord,  I  hop  you  are  not  angare  for  my  aduise 
of  S*.  jermenes.  I  gaue  it  semply  for  the  best;  as  for  m^  porter 
[Endymion  ?]  he  was  a  stranger  to  me,  for  before  I  cam  in  to  france  I 
ded  neuer  see  hem,  or  at  least  knew  hem  not  to  be  m^  porter,  or  my 
lord  of  newcastles  frind,  and,  my  lord,  it  is  a  custtom  I  obsarue  that  I 
neuer  speek  to  any  man  before  they  addres  them  selues  to  me,  nor  to 
look  so  much  in  ther  face  as  to  inuit  ther  descours,  and  I  hop  I  neuer 
was  unseuell  to  any  parson  of  what  degree  so  euer,  but  to  morrow  the 
qeene  comes  to  pares,  they  say,  and  then  I  hope  to  iusttifie  my  selfe 
to  be,  my  lord,  the  most  humbell  saruant  to  you  and  your  saruants 

Margreat  Lucas 

if  you  cannot  reed  this  leter,  blam  me  not,  for  it  was  so  early  I  was 
half  asleep. 

Rumors  spread  that  a  secret  marriage  had  already  taken 
place,  but  the  love-making  still  went  on : 

V.  My  lord,  there  is  non  could  be  more  sory  to  part  with  any  thing 
thay  loue  so  well  as  I  doe  you,  but  it  was  my  affection  to  you,  not  to 
my  self,  as  made  that  dissir  to  leue  me.  I  consider  non  so  much  as  to 
be  desplesd  or  deslik  any  thing  in  you  for  any  considdar[at]ion  of  what 
others  can  say,  for  that  you  think  to  be  best  shall  pies  me  most ;  .  .  . 
it  was  say  to  me  you  had  declared  your  marreg  to  my  lord  Jermyn.  I 
ansurred  it  was  mor  then  I  could  doe,  but  heer  is  so  many  idell 
descor[s]es  as  it  would  werre  [weary]  me  to  tell  them,  and  you  to 
heer  them.  .  .  . 

VI.  My  lord,  your  uerses  are  more  like  you  then  your  peckter, 
though  it  resembelles  you  uery  much,  but  heer  art  has  not  bene  so 


278  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

good  a  courtiar  as  it  cues  [used]  to  be;  my  lord,  the  only  blessing 
I  wish  for  heer  is  I  may  desarue  your  afectshion  which  is  onualabell 
[invaluable].  .  .  . 

When  the  Queen  prepared  to  move  from  Saint  Germains  to 
Paris,  Margaret  seriously  considered  remaining  behind,  in  order 
to  silence  gossiping  tongues : 

VII.  My  lord,  pray  beleue  I  am  not  factious,  espashally  with  you, 
for  your  commands  shall  be  my  law,  but  supos  me  now  in  a  uery 
mallancolly  humer,  and  that  most  off  my  contempaltions  are  fext  on 
nothing  but  dessolutions,  for  I  look  apon  this  world  as  on  a  deth's 
head  for  mortefecation,  for  I  see  all  things  sublet  to  allteration  and 
chaing,  and  our  hopes  as  if  they  had  taken  opum.  .  .  .  my  lord,  I  hear 
the  qeen  comes  to  parres  this  next  week  to  the  solemetes  of  prences 
mary's  marrag,  and  I  am  in  a  dessput  wither  I  should  com  with  her, 
if  I  can  get  leue  to  stay ;  my  reson  is  becaus  I  think  it  will  stop  the 
scors  [source  ?]  of  ther  descors  of  us  when  they  see  I  doe  not  com,  but 
I  shall  not  doe  any  thing  without  your  apprebation,  as  becomes  your 
most  humbl  saruant  Margreat  Lucas 
My  lord  lett  your  eye  ^  lemet  your  poetry. 

The  case  of  Newcastle's  picture  which  he  had  sent  to  Mar- 
garet got  broken  and  subsequently  caused  serious  complications  : 

VIII.  My  lord,  as  grace  drawes  the  sole  to  life,  so  natuer,  the  pen- 
cell  of  god,  has  drawen  your  wit  to  the  birth,  as  may  be  scene  by  your 
uerses,  though  the  subget  is  to  mene  for  your  mues.  ...  I  should  be 
sory  your  afectshion  should  be  as  brokin  as  the  case  of  your  pickter ; 
it  can  be  no  ell  oment  [ill  omen]  of  my  part.  I  know  not  what  it  may 
be  of  yours.  I  hop  it  is  not  rauen  like  to  give  wor[n]ing  of  deth  but 
I  wish  life  only  to  be  still,  my  lord,  your  umbell  saruant, 

Margraet  Lucas 

IX.  My  lord,  I  thank  you  for  the  toaken  of  loue  you  sent  me,  for  I 
must  confes  I  wanted  it,  wer  it  but  to  returne  it  on  your  self  againe. 
...  I  am  sory  you  should  bed  me  keepe  the  ferses  you  sent,  for  it 
lookes  as  tho  you  thought  I  had  flung  thos  away  you  sent  before; 
shurly  I  would  keep  them  wer  it  with  deficulty,  and  not  to  part  with 
your  muses  so  easely.  .  .  . 

1  Goulding  reads  "  ere,"  but  "  eye  "  in  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.  Rep.  would  be 
more  natural.    See  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  134-137. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  279 

Masculine  indifference  to  a  woman's  sensitive  nature  must 
have  occasioned  the  following  outburst : 

X.  ...  my  lord,  I  can  beleue  nothing  but  what  is  in  honour  of  you, 
and  I  besech  you  to  beleue  that  I  have  euer  truth  of  my  sid,  tho 
naked ;  therfor  I  neuer  sayed  any  such  thing  as  you  menshioned  in 
your  letter  of  your  peckter,  nor  neuer  so  much  as  shewed  it  to  any 
cretur  before  yesterday  that  I  gaue  it  to  mend,  but  I  find  such 
enemenys  that  what  soeuer  can  be  for  my  disaduantag  tho  it  haue  but 
a  resemblance  of  truth  shall  be  declard.  I  hop  my  innocens  will  gard 
me,  but  suer,  my  lord,  you  haue  many  frindes,  tho  I  haue  many 
enemenys,  or  eles  this  is  a  counselling  age,  but  if  I  shall  preiudgice 
you  in  the  affaires  of  the  world,  or  in  your  iudgment  of  your  bad 
choyce,  consider  and  leue  me,  for  I  shall  desir  to  life  no  longer  then 
to  see  you  happy  ...  it  is  not  ushal  to  give  the  queen  gloves  or  any 
thing  eles,  but,  my  lord,  if  you  plese  I  will  give  them  her. 

The  unfeminine  petulance  in  this  last  epistle  did  not  pass 
unnoticed  by  Newcastle : 

XI.  My  lord,  I  am  sory  you  haue  metamorphosis  my  leter  and 
made  that  masculen  that  was  efemenat ;  my  ambition  is  to  be  thought 
a  modest  woman  and  to  leue  the  title  of  a  gallante  man  to  you  .  .  .  my 
lord,  I  am  sory  you  haue  such  a  defluction  in  your  eies.  I  fear  your 
wrighting  may  draw  downe  the  rhum  to  much,  tho  I  rejoyce  at  nothing 
mor  then  your  letters,  but  insted  of  ioy  they  would  bring  me  sadnes  if 
I  rescued  then  at  such  a  disaduantag  as  to  hurt  them.  .  .  . 

Presently  peace  was  restored  amid  new  protestations  of  affection : 

XII.  My  lord,  I  may  uery  well  tak  all  your  faltes  to  me,  and  yet  be 
excusable  for  what  is  yours  though  not  for  my  one  [own],  and  tis  no 
mercie  to  signe  a  pardon  wher  ther  has  bene  no  offence.  I  must  con- 
fes  my  discression  dede  neuer  aper  so  much  as  by  my  affection  to  loue 
a  parson  of  so  much  woreth  as  your  self,  and  yet,  me  lord,  I  must  tell 
you  I  am  not  esly  drawen  to  be  in  loue,  for  I  ded  neuer  see  any  man 
but  yourself  that  I  could  haue  marred  ...  I  neuer  knew  the  uice  of  enuy, 
but  I  must  haue  a  large  proporsion  of  grace  to  arme  me  againest  it,  if 
I  had  a  riuall  in  your  affection,  espeshially  a  nemeies  [an  enemy's  ?] 
daughter,  but  wer  I  suer  you  should  hat  me  as  I  hop  you  loue  me,  yet 
I  well  be,  my  lord,  your  must  humbell  saruant  Margreat  Lucas 
the  queen  takes  no  notes  [notice]  of  any  thing  to  me. 


280  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

XIII.  My  lord,  I  wounder  not  at  my  loue,  but  at  yours,  becaus  the 
obiet  of  mine  is  good.  I  wish  the  obiet  of  yours  wer  so,  yet  me 
thinkes,  you  should  loue  nothing  that  wer  ell,  therfore  if  I  haue  any 
part  of  good  tis  your  loue  makes  me  so,  but  loued  I  nothing  elles  but 
you,  I  loue  all  that  is  good,  and  louing  nothing  aboue  you  I  haue 
loues  recompens ;  my  lord,  I  haue  not  had  much  expereanse  of  the 
world,  yet  I  haue  found  it  such  as  I  could  willinly  part  with  it,  but 
sence  I  knew  you,  I  fear  I  shall  loue  it  to  well,  becaus  you  are  in  it, 
and  yet,  me  thinkes  you  are  not  in  it,  becaus  you  are  not  off  it ;  so  I 
am  both  in  it  and  out  off  it,  a  Strang  inchantment. 

Nor  with  all  this  billing  and  cooing,  was  Margaret's  worldly 
wisdom  quiescent : 

XIV.  My  lord,  it  may  be  the  triall,  but  it  tis  not  true  loue  that 
absence  or  tim  can  demenesh,  and  I  shall  as  sone  forget  all  good  as 
forget  you ;  me  lord,  you  are  a  parson  I  may  uery  confeedently  one 
[own]  unless  morell  meret  be  a  scandall,  but,  me  lord,  ther  is  a  cuss- 
tumare  law  that  must  be  sineed  [signed]  before  I  may  lawfully  call 
you  husban;  if  you  are  so  passhonit  as  you  say,  and  as  I  dar  not 
belefe,  yet  it  may  be  feared  it  cannot  last  long,  for  no  extreme  is 
parmenttary  [permanent  ?  ]. 

XV.  My  lord,  Wer  I  much  sicker  then  I  was,  your  kaind  car  [care] 
would  cuer  me.  I  am  afeard  it  were  an  ambeshion  to  desir  much  of 
your  loue,  knowing  my  self  of  lettell  dessart  and  yet,  me  thinks,  it 
should  be  no  sinne  when  the  disir  is  good ;  my  lord,  I  sent  a  leter  by 
my  mayd ;  I  should  be  sory  if  you  thought  any  line  can  come  from 
you  could  be  any  others  wayes  then  plesing  to  me,  for  that  is  only 
troublesom  which  is  foolesh  or  emperttenent,  with  which  you  will 
neuer  be  taxed,  nor  your  iudgment,  unles  now  in  choosing  me,  but 
being  as  your  choyes  makes  it  good,  and  so  I  shall  ualu  my  self,  which 
elles  I  should  not.  .  .  . 

Once  more  Margaret  was  disturbed  by  gossip,  but  Newcastle's 
protestations  and  her  brother's  influence  smoothed  the  troubled 
waters : 

XVI.  My  lord,  I  haue  rescued  your  leter  which  seems  to  satisfi 
mee  aginest  the  noies  of  a  cort,  but  when  I  rede  your  lordsp  justifi- 
cashon  under  your  one  hand,  I  consider  tis  all  the  sattisfackshon  can 
be  giuen  from  a  parson  of  honner,  but  now,  hauing  so  great  a  ingong- 
shon  [injunction]  as  is  laid  uppon  mee  in  the  nam  of  a  brother,  which 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  281 

has  so  great  a  powr,  together  with  your  lordps  excues  that  hauing  som 
ocashones  of  my  one  this  week  that  will  drae  me  to  pares,  of  which  I 
belefe  your  lordps  may  hear  of,  my  lord,  your  humbell  saruant     M.  L. 

XVII.  My  lord,  ther  is  nothing  will  pleas  me  more  then  to  be  wher 
you  are,  and  I  begen  to  admire  parres  becaus  you  are  in  it ;  my  lord, 
the  reson  I  had  to  consele  [conceal]  our  affections  was  becaus  I  thought 
it  would  be  agreabl  to  your  dissir,  but  for  my  part  I  would  not  car  if  the 
trumppet  of  fame  blue  it  throwout  all  the  world,  if  the  world  wer  ten 
times  biger  then  it  tis,  for  it  would  be  an  aduantag  to  me  and'^my  iudg- 
ment,  and  tho  I  am  gelty  of  falts  I  may  be  ashamed  to  one,  yet  sence 
they  are  knowin  in  heuen  I  car  not  what  can  be  knowin  on  earth.  .  .  . 

Later  Margaret  grew  so  restive  under  a  temporary  illness  that 
she  was  about  to  give  up  her  entire  romance.  Henrietta 
Maria's  displeasure  and  the  antagonism  of  Newcastle's  friends 
seemed  to  her  almost  insuperable  obstacles : 

XVIII.  My  lord,  I  should  be  sory  if  your  busnes  be  not  acorden 
to  your  dissir,  and  pray,  me  lord,  consider  well  wither  marring  me  will 
not  bring  a  troubl  to  your  self,  for,  beleue  me,  I  loue  you  to  well  to 
wesh  you  unhapy,  and  I  had  rather  lose  all  hapness  my  selfe  then  you 
should  be  unforteenat,  but  if  you  be  resoueled,  what  day  soever  you 
pies  to  send  for  me,  I  will  com ;  my  lord,  I  know  not  what  counsell 
to  give  conser[n]ing  the  quine,  but  I  fear  she  will  tak  it  ell  if  she  be 
not  mad  aquanted  with  our  intenshoins,  and  if  you  pies  to  right  a  leter 
to  her  and  send  it  to  me  I  will  deleuer  it  that  day  you  send  for  me.  I 
think  it  no  pollese  to  desples  the  quine,  for  though  she  will  doe  us  no 
good,  she  may  doe  us  harme.  I  haue  sent  my  mayd  about  som  busness, 
and  she  and  my  lady  broune  shall  agre  about  the  other  things  you  speak 
of.  I  understand  the  parswashon  of  some  againest  your  marreg,  suer 
thay  would  not  perswad  you  but  for  your  good ;  but  if  you  think  you 
haue  don  unaduisedly  in  promesis  your  self  to  me,  send  me  word,  and 
I  will  resing  [resign]  up  all  the  intrist  I  have  in  you,  though  unwil- 
lingly. ...  I  haue  bene  uery  ell  this  th[r]ee  days,  but  health  can  not 
be  so  plesing  to  me  as  knowing  my  self  to  be,  my  lord,  your  most 
umbell  saruant  Margraet  Lucas 

pray,  me  lord,  doe  not  messtrust  me,  for  telling  of  any  thing  that 
you  haue  commanded  my  silance  in ;  for  though  I  am  a  woman,  I 
can  keep  counsell,  but  I  hau  not  power  ofer  the  emmaganacions  of 
others ;  pray  consider  I  haue  enemyes. 


282  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

XIX.  My  lord,  it  can  be  in  no  bodyes  powr  to  ues  me  ell  if  you  ues 
me  well.  I  have  not  ben  with  the  qeen  as  yet  be  reson  I  am  not  well, 
but  I  heer  she  would  haue  me  acknowledg  my  self  in  a  fait  and  not 
she  to  be  in  any  ...  for  the  hindirance  of  our  marrag,  I  hop  it  is  not 
in  ther  power,  I  am  sure  they  can  not  hinder  me  from  louing,  for  I 
must  be  and  will  be  and  am,  my  lord,  your  admiring  louing,  honour- 
ing humbell  and  obedient  saruant  Margreat  Lucas 

However,  when  the  Queen  once  gave  her  consent,  their 
marriage  was  soon  planned: 

XX.  My  lord.  My  health  will  be  according  as  I  imaign  [imagine] 
your  affection,  for  I  shall  neuer  be  sicke  so  long  as  you  loue  me ;  my 
lord,  I  hop  the  qeene  and  I  am  frindes ;  she  sayeth  she  will  seme  so 
at  lest,  but  I  finde,  if  it  had  bene  in  her  power,  she  would  a  [have] 
crost  us.  I  hard  not  of  the  leter,  but  she  sayed  to  me  she  had  it  in 
wrightin  that  I  should  pray  you  not  to  mak  her  acquainted  with  our 
desines;  my  lord,  sence  our  affections  is  poubleshed,  it  will  not  be 
for  our  honours  to  delay  our  marreg;  the  qeene  dos  intend  to  com 
on  mondday ;    if  not,  I  will  send  you  word. 

XXI.  My  lord,  I  dessir  nothing  so  much  as  the  contineuanc[e]  of 
your  affection,  for  I  think  my  self  richer  in  haueing  that  then  if  I  wer 
a  monarch  of  all  the  world ;  my  lord,  I  hop  the  qeene  and  I  shall  be 
uery  good  frindes  againe,  and  may  be  the  beter  for  the  deffarances 
we  have  had.  ...  I  find  to  sattesfy  the  opinion  we  are  not  marred 
allredy,  we  must  be  marred  by  on  of  the  prestes  heer,  which  I  think 
cousens,^  to  be  the  fettes  [fittest];  we  shall  not  come  tell  mondday,  if 
then,  but  there  is  no  tim  can  allter  my  affection. 

So  their  true  love  (if  it  may  be  called  so)  was  strong 
enough  to  weather  all  difficulties  thrown  in  its  way.  The 
credit  for  their  ultimate  union  rests  largely  with  Margaret, 
because  her  position  was  much  harder  than  Newcastle's. 
Alone  and  unaided,  she  had  to  endure  the  gibes  of  a  mock- 
ing court,  and,  all  things  realized,  she  carried  off  a  difficult 
situation  with  no  small  amount  of  grace. 

1  This  is  Dr.  Cosin,  the  well-known  priest,  although  Goulding  reads  it 
"consens"  and  annotates  it  as  "consent."  See  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  137,  for 
the  correction. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  283 

n 

THE  MARCHIONESS  OF  NEWCASTLE  (1645-1664) 

Once  wedded,  Margaret  Cavendish  enjoyed  a  more  peaceful, 
leisurely,  but  uninteresting  life.  This  latter  consideration,  how- 
ever, did  not  cause  her  a  moment's  uneasiness.  She  was  in- 
tensely relieved  to  be  out  of  the  court  circle,  and  one  may 
imagine  that  her  delight  upon  leaving  Paris  was  even  greater. 
Yet  time  must  have  hung  heavy  upon  her  hands  after  the  ex- 
citement of  existence  at  Saint  Germains.  Up  to  this  period 
she  had  never  lived  much  alone,  for  the  Lucas  family  with  its 
various  connections  had  completely  filled  her  girlhood.  Now 
the  new  Marchioness  was  thrown  almost  exclusively  upon  her 
noble  lord's  society,  but  he,  of  course,  could  not  always  be 
with  his  wife.  Moreover,  she  had  undergone  such  an  unfor- 
tunate experience  as  maid  of  honor  that  a  marked  aversion  to 
strangers  characterized  all  her  subsequent  history ;  this  atti- 
tude necessarily  limited  her  outlook  and  occupation,  especially 
as  there  were  no  children  to  bring  up  nor  any  very  arduous 
household  cares  to  sustain.  The  management  of  some  few 
servants  ^  and  of  Newcastle's  precarious  finances  must  have 
fallen  to  his  wife,  but  this  task  she  would  easily  accomplish. 
Her  mother,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  adept  in  such  mat- 
ters, so  that  the  daughter  probably  inherited  similar  ability ; 
at  least  the  minute  figuring  and  computing  of  Cavendish's 
losses  in  his  Life  show  that  she  fully  comprehended  the 
value  of  money.  The  Marquis,  on  the  contrary,  was  far  too 
casual  ever  to  take  any  great  interest  in   mundane   details. 

1  In  the  more  prosperous  times  that  succeeded  the  Duchess  writes :  "  I 
seldom  take  any  servants,  or  turn  them  away,  for  I  have  an  Under-officer  as 
my  Lieutenant-General,  which  is  the  Governess  of  my  House,  &  she  receives 
my  General  Orders,  and  Executes  the  Particular  Households  Affairs."  — 
CCXI  Sociable  Letters,  Letter  CLXXIX. 


284  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Spending  was  a  necessity  for  him,  and  procuring  the  where- 
withal only  an  unmitigated  nuisance.  He  had  never  learned 
that  economy  was  possible,  while  Margaret  had  been  bred  in 
a  frugal,  well-ordered  establishment,  so  that  the  subsequent 
improvement  in  their  affairs  was  no  doubt  partly  due  to  her 
careful  management.  Still  these  activities  could  not  have 
occupied  a  large  share  of  her  time,  and  she  must  have  passed 
many  idle. hours  during  that  period. 

It  was  only  natural,  then,  that  the  Marchioness  should 
continue  to  develop  her  imagination,  which  had  been  some- 
what awakened  by  the  spiritual  solitude  she  had  endured  at 
court.  Also  this  meditative  habit  was  a  decided  source  of 
self-satisfaction  for  her,  as  it  offered  certain  opportunities  that 
were  a  closed  door  to  the  uninitiated.  When,  in  addition, 
the  joy  of  written  composition  was  discovered,^  our  authoress's 
cup  of  happiness  was  full,  for  she  had  found  a  way  to  occupy 
herself.  The  only  wonder  is  that  this  fanciful  vein  should 
have  existed  alongside  of  a  marked  practicality,  although  these 
two  seeming  opposites  may  have  been  but  heightened  mani- 
festations of  that  petty  materialism  and  lofty  spirituality  which 
are  so  often  associated  in  feminine  emotionalism.  Margaret 
Cavendish's  genius  brought  about  an  excessive  development 
of  this  paradox,  but  the  phenomena  diifer  scarcely  at  all  in 
fundamentals.  As  time  went  on,  however,  the  fantastic  side 
gained  increasing  sway  over  the  human,  until  her  normality 
was  gradually  reduced  to  a  subservient  position.  This  desire 
to  write  having  once  become  established,  she  could  not  resist 
setting  down  her  conceptions  and  contemplations.  Each  day 
she  threw  continued  emphasis  upon  the  strangeness  in  her 
personality  by  devoting  less  and  less  time  to  the  ordinary 
relationships  of  life. 

1  The  continental  influence  of  literary  ladies  and  the  Duchess's  own  early 
attempts  at  writing  made  such  a  discovery  almost  inevitable. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  285 

A  True  Relation  admits  this  but  does  not  make  clear  its 
full  significance.  In  a  singularly  disjointed  passage  the 
authoress  writes :  ^ 

For  I  being  of  a  lazy  nature,  and  not  of  an  active  disposition,  as  some 
are  that  love  to  journey  from  town  to  town,  from  house  to  house, 
delighting  in  variety  of  company,  making  still  one  where  the  greatest 
number  is  —  likewise  in  playing  at  cards,  or  any  other  games,  in 
which  I  neither  have  practised,  nor  have  I  any  skill  therein :  —  as  for 
dancing,  although  it  be  a  graceful  art,  and  becometh  unmarried  per- 
sons well,  yet  for  those  that  are  married,  it  is  too  light  an  action,  dis- 
agreeing with  the  gravity  thereof  —  and  for  revelling,  I  am  of  too 
dull  a  nature  to  make  one  in  a  merry  society  —  as  for  feasting,  it 
would  neither  agree  with  my  humour  or  constitution,  for  my  diet  is 
for  the  most  part  sparing,  as  a  little  boiled  chicken,  or  the  hke,  my 
drink  most  commonly  water ;  for  though  I  have  an  indifferent  good 
appetite,  yet  I  do  often  fast,  out  of  an  opinion  that  if  I  should  eat 
much,  and  exercise  little,  which  I  do,  only  walking  a  slow  pace  in  my 
chamber,  whilst  my  thoughts  run  apace  in  my  brain,  so  that  the 
motions  of  my  mind  hinders  the  active  exercises  of  my  body;  for 
should  I  dance  or  run,  or  walk  apace,  I  should  dance  my  thoughts 
out  of  measure,  run  my  fancies  out  of  breath,  and  tread  out  the  feet 
of  my  numbers.  But  because  I  would  not  bury  myself  quite  from  the 
sight  of  the  world,  I  go  sometimes  abroad,  seldom  to  visit,  but  only 
in  my  coach  about  the  town,  or  about  some  of  the  streets,  which  we 
call  here  a  tour,  .  .  .  which  most  cities  of  note  in  Europe  for  all  I  can 
hear,  hath  such  like  recreations  for  the  effeminate  sex,  although  for 
my  part  I  had  rather  sit  at  home  and  write,  or  walk,  as  I  said,  in  my 
chamber  and  contemplate ;  but  I  hold  necessary  sometimes  to  appear 
abroad,  besides  I  do  find,  that  several  objects  do  bring  new  materials 
for  my  thoughts  and  fancies  to  build  upon. 

There  is  something  of  the  primitive  artist  in  this  stimulus 
from  exterior  perception,  as  is  emphasized  when  the  Duchess 
describes  her  own  methods  of  composition  :  ^ 

When  I  am  writing  any  sad  feigned  stories,  or  serious  humours,  or 
melancholy  passions,  I  am  forced  many  times  to  express  them  with 
the  tongue  before  I  can  write  them  with  the  pen,  by  reason  those 

1  Firth,  pp.  172-173.  2  Ibid.,  p.  172 


286  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

thoughts  that  are  sad,  serious,  and  melancholy  are  apt  to  contract, 
and  to  draw  too  much  back,  which  oppression  doth  as  it  were  over- 
power or  smother  the  conception  in  the  brain.  But  when  some  of 
those  thoughts  are  sent  out  in  words,  they  give  the  rest  more  liberty 
to  place  themselves  in  a  more  methodical  order,  marching  more  regu- 
larly with  my  pen  on  the  ground  of  white  paper ;  but  my  letters  seem 
rather  a  ragged  rout  than  a  well-armed  body,  for  the  brain  being 
quicker  in  creating  than  the  hand  in  writing  or  the  memory  in  retain- 
ing, many  fancies  are  lost,  by  reason  they  oft  times  outrun  the  pen, 
where  I,  to  keep  speed  in  the  race,  write  so  fast  as  I  stay  not  so  long 
as  to  write  my  letters  plain,  insomuch  as  some  have  taken  my  hand- 
writing for  some  strange  character,  and  being  accustomed  so  to  do,  I 
cannot  now  write  very  plain,  when  I  strive  to  write  my  best ;  indeed 
my  ordinary  handwriting  is  so  bad  as  few  can  read  it,  so  as  to  write 
it  fair  for  the  press;  but  however,  that  little  wit  I  have,  it  delights 
me  to  scribble  it  out,  and  disperse  it  about.  For  I  being  addicted 
'  from  my  childhood  to  contemplation  rather  than  conversation,  to  soli- 
tariness rather  than  society,  to  melancholy  rather  than  mirth,  to  write 
with  the  pen  than  to  work  with  the  needle,  passing  my  time  with 
harmless  fancies,  their  company  being  pleasing,  their  conversation 
innocent  .  .  .  my  only  trouble  is,  lest  my  brain  should  grow  barren, 
or  that  the  root  of  my  fancies  should  become  insipid,  withering  into 
a  dull  stupidity  for  want  of  maturing  subjects  to  write  on. 

As  the  Duchess's  literary  labors  became  greater  and  as  in 
time  her  husband's  fortunes  mended,  she  obtained  outside 
assistance  in  the  mechanics  of  writing.  For  instance,^  "she 
was  of  a  generous  turn  of  mind,  and  kept  a  great  many  young 
ladies  about  her  person,  who  occasionally  wrote  what  she 
dictated.  Some  of  them  slept  in  a  room,  contiguous  to  that 
in  which  her  Grace  lay,  and  were  ready,  at  the  call  of  her 
bell,  to  rise  any  hour  of  the  night,  to  write  down  her  concep- 
tions, lest  they  should  escape  her  memory.  The  young  ladies, 
no  doubt  often  dreaded  her  Grace's  conceptions,  which  were 

1  Gibber's  Lives  of  the  Poets,  II,  164.  "  Her  restless  spirit,"  writes  Jusserand 
apropos  of  this  passage,  "  was  in  some  manner  anticipating  unawares  another 
great  writer,  namely  Pope." — The  English  Novel  in  the  Time  of  Shakespeare^ 
1895,  p.  381. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  287 

frequent."  A  more  pungent  anecdote  of  the  same  sort  rests 
on  a  less  secure  foundation.^  "  So  fond,"  says  Dr.  Lort,  "was 
her  grace  of  these  conceptions,  and  so  careful  lest  they  should 
be  still-bom,  that  I  have  heard  or  read  somewhere,  that  her 
servant  John  Rolleston,  the  duke's  secretary,  (whose  name  I 
think  is  mentioned  by  her  with  much  condescension  and  affec- 
tion in  her  dedication  of  the  duke's  life  to  the  duke)  was 
ordered  to  lie  in  a  truckle-bed  in  a  closet  within  her  grace's 
bed  chamber,  and  whenever  at  any  time  she  gave  the  summons 
by  calling  out  'JOHN,  I  conceive,'  poor  John  was  to  get  up, 
and  commit  to  writing  the  offspring  of  his  mistress's  reveries." 
This  story  by  itself  would  certainly  lend  color  to  any  theory 
disputing  the  Duchess's  sanity.  It  is  not,  however,  well- 
authenticated  and,  if  it  were,  must  be  considered  in  its  proper 
connection  with  other  events.  There  need  not  be  the  slightest 
doubt  that  in  later  life  our  authoress  had  become  so  peculiar 
as  to  cause  the  growth  of  unreliable  material  concerning  her 
habits.  That  was  the  inevitable  result  of  plunging  into  realms 
of  imagination  and  leaving  behind  the  more  solid  earth. 

We  have  already  seen  what  an  extraordinary  amount  of  work 
the  Duchess  published,  besides  which  she  is  supposed  to  have 
written  three  folio  manuscripts  of  poems,  two  of  them  being 
at  one  time  in  Mr.  Thomas  Richardson's  library  and  the  other 
in  Bishop  Willis's.^  Yet  not  content  with  so  much  literary 
production,  "I  did  many  times  not  peruse  the  copies  that 
were  transcribed,  lest  they  should  disturb  my  following  con- 
ceptions ";3  and  "my  fancy  is  quicker  than  the  pen  with 
which  I  write,  insomuch  as  it  is  many  times  lost  through  the 
slowness  of  my  hand,  and  yet  I  write  so  fast,  as  I  stay  not  so 
long  as  to  make  perfect  letters."  *    Indeed  she  set  such  store 

1  Walpole's  Catalogue,  ed.  Park,  1806,  III,  190,  n. 

2  Ballard's  Memoirs  of  British  Ladies,  p.  213. 

*  Firth,  p.  xxxvii.  *  Ibid.,  p.  1 54. 


288  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

by  her  fancies,  ''as  I  neglect  my  health,  for  it  is  as  great  a 
grief  to  leave  their  society  as  a  joy  to  be  there  in  their  com- 
pany." ^  Medical  opinion  also  felt  that  the  Duchess  was  likely 
to  injure  her  physical  well-being,  for  Sir  Theodore  Mayerne, 
the  celebrated  doctor,^  wrote  Newcastle  that  an  "  occupation  in 
writing  bookes  with  a  sedentary  life  is  absolutely  bad  for  her 
health,  and  if  she  will  be  a  philosopher,  I  could  wish  her  to  be 
a  peripatetick."^  As  this  condition  of  ill  health  increased,  the 
Duchess  presumably  became  more  unreasonable  and  devoted 
even  a  greater  share  of  attention  to  literature.  At  any  rate,  that 
part  of  her  life  steadily  progressed  in  importance,  until  it  had 
usurped  dominance  over  the  remaining  functions.  In  the  fifteen 
years  following  1645  Margaret  Cavendish  changed  from  a 
sweet,  attractive,  if  unusual,  girl  to  a  self-absorbed,  self-satisfied, 
and  eccentric  woman.  All  the  pliancy,  all  the  spring  of  youth 
had  deserted  her,  and  in  its  stead  was  left  a  serene  compla- 
cency, more  annoying  than  agreeable.  She  who  could  create 
"Blazing  Worlds"  was  not  likely  to  take  excessive  heed  of  this 
terrestrial  footstool ;  she  lived  unto  herself  as  an  escape  from 
harassing  social  complications. 

Finally  things  came  to  such  a  pass  that  the  Duchess  could 
do  nothing  but  write,  whether  she  would  or  no.  One  of  the 
CCXI  Sociable  Letters  tells  us  that  neighbors  taxed  her  waiting- 
maids  with  idleness  and  the  girls  excused  themselves,^  ''  laying 
the  blame  upon  me,  that  I  did  not  set  them  to  any  imployment, 

1  Firth,  p.  172.  Compare, "  Your  Lordship  never  bid  me  to  Work,  nor  leave 
Writing,  except  when  you  would  perswade  me  to  spare  so  much  time  from  my 
study  as  to  take  the  Air  for  my  Health,"  in  "  To  his  Excellency  the  Lord  Mar- 
quess of  Newcastle,"  prefixed  to  CCXI  Sociable  Letters. 

2  He  was  born  at  Geneva  in  1573,  moved  to  London  in  161 1,  and  was  royal 
physician  to  both  Charleses  in  turn  {Diet.  Nat.  Biog.). 

^Letters  Written  by  Charles  LamFs  ^^  Princely  Woman  ^''  etc.,  p.  4.     From  a 
manuscript  at  Welbeck  Abbey  according  to  R.  W.  Goulding,  the  librarian  there. 
*  Letter  CL. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  289 

but  whereas  they  were  ready  to  obey  my  commands,  I  was 
so  slow  in  commanding  them,  as  I  seldom  took  any  notice  of 
them,  or  spoke  to  them,  and  that  the  truth  was,  they  oftener 
heard  of  their  lady,  than  heard,  or  saw  her  themselves,  I  liv- 
ing so  studious  a  life,  as  they  did  not  see  me  above  once  a 
week,  nay,  many  times,  not  once  in  a  fortnight;  wherefore, 
upon  the  relation  of  these  complaints,  I  sent  for  the  governess 
of  my  house,  and  bid  her  give  order  to  have  flax  and  wheels 
bought,  for  I,  with  my  maids,  would  sit  and  spin.  The  gov- 
erness hearing  me  say  so,  smiled,  I  asked  her  the  reason,  she 
said,  she  smiled  to  think  what  uneven  threads  I  would  spin, 
for,  said  she,  though  Nature  hath  made  you  a  spinster  in 
poetry,  yet  education  hath  not  made  you  a  spinster  in  huswifry, 
and  you  will  spoil  more  flax,  than  get  cloth  by  your  spinning, 
as  being  an  art  that  requires  practice  to  learn  it.  .  .  .  Then  I 
bid  her  leave  me,  to  consider  of  some  other  work ;  and  when 
I  was  by  myself  alone,  I  call'd  into  my  mind  several  sorts  of 
wrought  work,  most  of  which,  though  I  had  will,  yet  I  had  no 
skill  to  work,  for  which  I  did  inwardly  complain  of  my  educa- 
tion, that  my  mother  did  not  force  me  to  learn  to  work  with 
a  needle,  though  she  found  me  alwayes  unapt  thereto ;  at  last 
I  pitch'd  upon  making  of  silk  flowers,  for  I  did  remember, 
when  I  was  a  girl,  I  saw  my  sisters  make  silk  flowers,  and  I 
had  made  some,  although  ill-favour'dly ;  wherefore  I  sent  for 
the  governess  of  my  house  again,  and  told  her,  that  I  would 
have  her  buy  several  coloured  silks,  for  I  was  resolved  to  im- 
ploy  my  time  in  making  silk-flowers,  she  told  me,  she  would 
obey  my  commands,  but,  said  she.  Madam,  neither  you,  nor 
any  that  serves  you,  can  do  them  so  well,  as  those  who  make 
it  their  trade,  neither  can  you  make  them  so  cheap,  as  they 
will  sell  them  out  of  their  shops,  wherefore  you  had  better  buy 
those  toyes,  if  you  desire  them,  for  it  will  be  an  unprofitable 


290  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

employment,  to  wast  time,  with  a  double  expense  of  mony. 
Then  I  told  her  I  would  preserve,  for  it  was  summer  time, 
and  the  fruit  fresh,  and  ripe  upon  the  trees ;  she  ask'd  me 
for  whom  I  would  preserve,  for  I  seldom  did  eat  sweet  meats 
my  self,  nor  make  banquets  for  strangers,  unless  I  meant  to 
feed  my  household  servants  with  them ;  besides,  said  she,  you 
may  keep  half  a  score  servants  with  the  mony  that  is  laid  out 
in  sugar  and  coals,  which  go  to  the  preserving  only  of  a  few 
sweet  meats,  that  are  good  for  nothing  but  to  breed  obstruc- 
tions, and  rot  the  teeth.  .  .  .  Besides,  said  she,  none  can 
.  .  .  employ  their  time  better,  than  to  read,  nor  your  Ladiship 
better  than  to  write,  for  any  other  course  of  life  would  be 
as  unpleasing  and  unnatural  to  you,  as  writing  is  delightful 
to  you ;  besides,  you  are  naturally  addicted  to  busie  your  time 
with  pen,  ink,  and  paper." 

This  addiction  increased  the  Duchess's  unsociability  and,  as 
previously  suggested,  may  have  been  a  contributory  cause  of 
Newcastle's  retirement  after  the  Restoration.  His  wife  was 
so  palpably  unfitted  for  court  life,  especially  under  Charles  II, 
that  he  may  have  felt  it  the  part  of  wisdom  not  to  strive  after 
political  recognition.  At  Welbeck  or  Bolsover  the  Duchess 
would  be  much  happier  than  in  the  busy  haunts  of  men,  and, 
personal  ambition  set  aside,  perhaps  the  Duke  himself  (now 
sixty-eight  years  old)  preferred  rural  tranquillity.  Their  manner 
of  existence  in  the  country  we  must  reconstruct  for  ourselves. 
Certainly  it  was  not  that  ill-naturedly  imagined  by  Walpole :  ^ 

What  a  picture  of  foolish  nobility  was  this  stately  poetic  couple, 
retired  to  their  own  little  domain,  and  intoxicating  one  another  with 
circumstantial  flattery,  on  what  was  of  consequence  to  no  mortal  but 
themselves ! 

1  Walpole's  Catalogue,  ed.  Park,  III,  190-191.  As  unfounded  is  Charles 
Whibley's  remark  in  the  Cambridge  History,  VIII,  149,  that  the  Duke  and 
Duchess  might  have  inspired  Lord  and  Lady  Froth  in  Congreve's  The 
Double  Dealer. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  291 

As  little  can  one  accept  Sir  Egerton  Brydges's  idyllic  account :  ^ 

Welbeck  opened  her  gates  to  her  Lord ;  and  the  castles  of  the  North 
received  with  joy  their  heroic  chieftain,  whose  maternal  ancestors,  the 
baronial  house  of  OGLE,  had  ruled  over  them  for  centuries  in 
Northumberland.  But  Age  had  now  made  the  Duke  desirous  only 
of  repose ;  and  her  Grace,  the  faithful  companion  of  his  fallen  for- 
tunes, was  little  disposed  to  quit  the  luxurious  quiet  of  rural  grandeur, 
which  was  as  soothing  to  her  disposition,  as  it  was  concordant  with 
her  duty.  To  such  a  pair  the  noisy  and  intoxicated  joy  of  a  profligate 
court  would  probably  have  been  a  thousand  times  more  painful  than 
all  the  wants  of  their  late  chilling,  but  calm,  poverty.  They  came  not, 
therefore,  to  palaces  and  levees ;  but  amused  themselves  in  the  coun- 
try with  literature  and  the  arts. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  Duke  and  Duchess  must  have  led  a 
much  more  prosaic  existence.  Newcastle  seems  to  have  been 
chiefly  occupied  with  restoring  parks  ^  or  racing  horses,^  while 
his  wife  still  plied  those  literary  pursuits  which  had  fastened 
so  tightly  upon  her. 

What  is  more,  she  began  to  show  a  decided  interest  in 
Cavendish's  family.  Although  her  maternal  instinct  had  never 
been  allowed  to  gratify  itself,  she  now  undertook  the  r61e  of 
grandmother.  Henry,  Earl  of  Ogle,  had  one  boy,  Henry,  Lord 
Mansfield,  and  four  daughters,  who  sometimes  came  to  visit 
at  Welbeck.  On  January  20,  1669- 1670,  Newcastle  wrote 
his  son,  "  All  your  children  are  well,  but  Henry  loves  my 
wife  better  than  any  body  and  she  him."  *  On  another  occa- 
sion, the  Duchess  addresses  a  letter  to  Ogle,  showing  regard 
for  him  and  affection  for  young  Henry.  This  missive,  by  the 
way,  is  quite  indecorous  and  furnishes  another  instance  of  how 
plain-spoken  was  an  age  in  which  a  respectable  noblewoman 

1  Preface  to  Sir  Egerton  Brydges's  reprint  of  the  True  Relation^  pp.  6-7. 

2  Firth,  p.  71. 

*  See  his  rules  for  horse  racing  promulgated  by  John  Rolleston,  May  26, 1662 
{Bod.  Lib.,  Wood  276 A,  149),  reprinted  in  Firth,  pp.  218-219. 

*  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  149. 


292  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

would  send  such  a  message  to  her  grandson.  The  ingenuous- 
ness of  this  epistle  adds  still  further  to  its  interest :  ^ 

My  lord,  I  am  glad  you  have  reseud  such  sattesfaction  [as]  you 
desir[ed]  when  your  lordship  was  heer  at  welbick,  and  I  wish  with  all 
my  sould  your  lordship  may  haue  the  fruesion  of  all  your  good  desirs. 
I  am  allso  glad  my  lord  mansfield  did  kindly  actseept  of  my  letter,  but 
sorry  he  hath  got  a  knock  opon  his  forhead;  pray  tell  his  lordship 
from  me  if  he  wer  a  marred  man  it  would  be  a  dangrous  bumpe  ;  but 
praying  for  his  happenes  as  allso  your  lordship,  I  am,  my  lord,  your 
lordships  humbell  seruant 

M.  Newcastle 

Certainly  this  is  as  friendly  a  letter  as  a  stepson  could  wish 
to  receive,  and  if  there  was  any  trouble  between  Ogle  and 
the  Duchess,  she  was  not  to  blame  for  it. 

Yet  Newcastle's  son  seems  to  have  been  dissatisfied  with 
existing  conditions.  In  a  letter  of  August  lo,  1671,  he  is 
"very  mallencholly,  finding  my  Father  more  perswaded  by 
his  Wife  then  I  could  thinke  it  possible,"  ^  and  this  statement 
forms  a  damning  coincidence  with  an  occurrence  of  the  pre- 
ceding July  14;  for  on  that  day  there  was  made  a  ''con- 
fession by  John  Booth  before  James  Chadwick,  a  justice  of 
the  peace  for  Nottinghamshire,  that  he  had  written  a  libel 
against  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle  for  the  purpose  of  making 
dissensions  between  the  Duke  and  Duchess."  ^  An  ugly  but 
almost  an  inevitable  suspicion  points  to  Ogle  as  inciting  the  libel, 
although  his  motives  are  not  plain.  They  could  hardly  have 
been  personal  dislike  of  the  Duchess,  for  no  milder  or  more 
unobjectionable  lady  could  be  found.  Possibly  he  had  wished 
a  worldly,  ambitious  wife  for  his  father,  but  Newcastle's 
retirement  from  political  activity  left  the  son  additional  oppor- 
tunities   for   advancement.     After   all,    "  stepmother "   is   an 

^  Letters  Written  by  Charles  Lamfs  ^^  Princely  Woman,"  etc.,  p.  19. 
^  S.  A.  Strong's  Catalogue  of  the  Letters  and  other  Documents  exhibited  at 
Welbeck,  p.  63.  8  Welbeck  Mss.,  II,  149. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  293 

ill-fated  word,  and  it  may  have  been  merely  that  relationship 
which  prompted  Ogle's  ill  will.  The  Duke  and  Duchess  were 
so  wrapped  up  in  one  another  that  jealousy  would  be  an  easy 
growth  on  the  part  of  children  by  a  former  marriage,  but 
nothing  could  justify  the  employment  of  these  underhand 
means,  which  were  defeated,  as  they  richly  deserved.  The 
exposure  precluded  any  further  mischief  from  that  quarter, 
while  it  probably  served  to  unite  husband  and  wife  even  more 
closely.  So  they  lived  on  in  a  quiet  way,  busied  with  their  pos- 
sessions, their  household,  or  their  literary  talents.  Surely  they 
had  small  cause  to  envy  Charles's  court  for  all  its  bustling 
intrigues  and  vain  pursuit  of  pleasure. 

in 

THE  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE  (1664-1673) 

Occasionally,  however,  they  went  up  to  London,  and  on  one 
of  these  trips  the  Duchess  must  have  come  into  contact  with 
Mrs.  Katherine  Philips.  Our  sole  proof  of  their  friendship  is 
contained  in  a  poem  by  Orinda,  To  my  Lady  M.  Cavendish, 
chusing  the  name  of  Policrite,    It  runs  :  ^ 

That  Nature  in  your  frame  has  taken  care, 
As  well  your  Birth  as  Beauty  do  declare, 
Since  we  at  once  discover  in  your  Face, 
The  lustre  of  your  Eyes  and  of  your  Race : 
And  that  your  shape  and  fashion  does  attest, 
So  bright  a  form  has  yet  a  brighter  guest, 
To  future  times  authentick  fame  shall  bring, 
Historians  shall  relate,  and  Poets  sing. 
But  since  your  boundless  mind  upon  my  head, 
Some  rays  of  splendour  is  content  to  shed ; 
And  least  I  suffer  by  the  great  surprize, 
Since  you  submit  to  meet  me  in  disguise, 

1  Poems,  1667,  P- 142. 


294  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Can  lay  aside  what  dazles  vulgar  sight, 
And  to  Orinda  can  be  Policrite. 
You  must  endure  my  vows  and  find  the  way 
To  entertain  such  Rites,  as  I  can  pay : 
For  so  the  pow'r  divine  new  praise  acquires. 
By  scorning  nothing  that  it  once  inspires  : 
I  have  no  merits  that  your  smile  can  win, 
Nor  offering  to  appease  you  when  I  sin ; 
Nor  can  my  useless  homage  hope  to  raise. 
When  what  I  cannot  serve,  I  strive  to  praise : 
But  I  can  love,  and  love  at  such  a  pitch, 
As  I  dare  boast  it  will  ev'n  you  enrich ; 
For  kindness  is  a  Mine,  when  great  and  true. 
Of  nobler  Ore  than  ever  Indians  knew, 
'T  is  all  that  mortals  can  on  Heav'n  bestow 
And  all  that  Heav'n  can  value  here  below. 

This  poem  must  have  been  written  between  1660  and  1664, 
the  dates  of  '' M.  Cavendish's"  return  and  Orinda's  death,  at 
a  period  when  it  was  almost  inevitable  that  these  two  literary 
ladies  should  meet.  *'  The  Society  of  Friendship  "  ^  had  been 
organized  some  time  before  the  Duchess  could  have  assumed 
her  name  of  Policrite — '*a  critic  of  the  town"  no  doubt  — 
and  when  she  did  so,  it  must  have  been  merely  to  gain  a  for- 
mal identification  with  this  literary  group.  By  her  very  nature 
Margaret  Cavendish  was  incapable  of  taking  an  active  part  in 
any  approximation  of  the  salon ;  ^  she  possessed  such  a  shy, 
bashful,  solitary  disposition  as  to  make  even  the  idea  of  con- 
versation for  conversation's  sake  unbearable  to  her.  When 
M.  Montdgut  writes  that,  *'  La  duchesse  de  Newcastle  fut,  en 
date,  la  premiere  de  ces  bas  bleus^''  ^  he  completely  miscon- 
ceives the  situation.    *'  Blue-stocking  "  is  the  last  name  which 

1  For  some  account  of  this  organization  see  Edmund  Gosse's  Seventeenth 
Century  Studies. 

2  "  There  is  no  suggestion  of  the  salon  about  such  a  figure  as  the  Duchess 
of  Newcastle." —  C.  B.  Tinker,  Salon  and  English  Letters,  p.  90,  n. 

*  La  Duchesse  et  le  Due  de  Newcastle,  p.  206. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  295 

should  be  applied  to  this  reserved  and  unsociable  authoress. 
In  books  she  might  pour  forth  her  inmost  feelings,  but  among 
people  her  tongue  was  so  tied  by  self-consciousness  that  she 
could  not  have  been  an  influential  addition  to  Orinda's  circle. 
From  the  tenor  of  Mrs.  Philips 's  poem,  the  Duchess  would 
seem  condescendingly  to  have  lent  her  name  to  the  group 
as  an  honorary  member.  This  would  indeed  be  conferring  a 
dignity,  for  Newcastle  was  such  a  prominent  person  that  his 
wife  possessed  no  small  degree  of  importance.  So  it  is  that 
Orinda  asks  her  to  "  lay  aside  what  dazles  vulgar  sight "  in  re- 
turn for  a  love  which  is  '*  all  that  mortals  can  on  Heav'n  be- 
stow." The  attitude  is  that  of  an  inferior  who  returns  thanks 
for  favors  received,  in  this  case  the  Duchess's  deigning  to 
enter  the  **  Society  of  Friendship."  Her  character  and  the 
lack  of  any  further  evidence  go  to  prove  that  she  was  only 
a  silent  partner  in  its  workings. 

The  Newcastles'  most  famous  visit  to  town  was  made,  as 
already  noted,  in  April  and  May,  1667.  Regarding  it,  Samuel 
Pepys  has  several  entries  which  furnish  a  specific  tinge  to 
our  ideas  of  the  Duchess's  peculiarities.  For  one  thing  she 
seems  to  have  felt  the  elevation  of  her  position  and  was  deter- 
mined to  impress  London  with  the  fact  that,  although  living 
in  the  country,  she  was  a  peeress  of  no  mean  rank.  On 
April  II  Pepys  went  to  Whitehall  "thinking  there  to  have 
seen  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle's  coming  this  night  to  Court, 
to  make  a  visit  to  the  Queene,  the  King  having  been  with  her 
yesterday,  to  make  her  a  visit  since  her  coming  to  town.  The 
whole  story  of  this  lady  is  a  romance,  and  all  she  does  is 
romantick.  Her  footmen  in  velvet  coats,  and  herself  in  an 
antique  dress,  as  they  say  ;  and  was  the  other  day  at  her  own 
play.  The  Humorous  Lovers ;  ^  the  most  ridiculous  thing  that 

1  Here  Pepys  errs  again,  as  we  have  seen  him  doing  once  before,  in 
ascribing  the  Duke's  play  to  the  Duchess. 


296  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

ever  was  wrote,  but  yet  she  and  her  Lord  mightily  pleased  with 
it ;  and  she,  at  the  end,  made  her  respects  to  the  players  from 
her  box,  and  did  give  them  thanks.  There  is  as  much  expec- 
tation of  her  coming  to  Court,  that  so  people  may  come  to  see 
her,  as  if  it  were  the  Queen  of  Sheba ;  ^  but  I  lost  my  labour, 
for  she  did  not  come  this  night."  Ten  days  later  the  expected 
visit  took  place,  although  Pepys  leaves  no  record  of  it.  A  news- 
letter dated  April  22  mentions  that,  *'  last  night  is  memorable 
for  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle's  first  appearance  at  Court.  She 
came  in  the  evening  attended  with  three  coaches,  the  first  of 
her  gentlemen,  of  two  horses,  the  second  her  own  of  six,  and 
the  third  that  of  her  women,  of  four.  Her  train  was  carried 
by  a  young  lady  in  white  satin.  Her  first  visit  was  to  the 
King,  who  sent  the  Lord  Chamberlain  to  conduct  her  to  the 
Queen,  where  his  Majesty  came  to  her.  This  visit  is  thought 
extraordinary."  ^ 

On  the  25  th  it  is  recorded  i^  ''Last  night  the  Duchess  of 
Newcastle  visited  the  Duchess  of  York  in  the  same  equipage 
in  which  she  visited  the  Queen."  Nor  was  this  the  first  time 
that  these  two  peeresses  had  met.  Sir  Charles  Lyttelton  had 
journeyed  to  York  with  its  titular  Duke  and  Duchess  and  had 
written  thence  on  August  7,  1665,  to  Christopher  Hatton:^ 

Last  night  wee  gott  hither,  having  bine  mightily  feasted  and  wel- 
comed by  the  appearance  of  the  nobillity  and  gentlemen  of  the  contrys 
with  the  volunteer  troopes  as  wee  passed;  but  more  especially  at 
S'  George  Saville's,  whose  entertainment  was  indeed  very  splendid. 
Hard  by  his  house  mett  us  on  the  way  my  L^  of  Newcastle  and  my 
Lady,  whose  behavior  was  very  pleasant,  but  rather  to  be  scene  then 
told.  She  was  dressd  in  a  vest,  and,  insteed  of  courtesies,  made  leggs 
and  bows  to  the  ground  with  her  hand  and  head. 

1  The  word  is  "Sweden"  in  the  original.  See  Wheatley's  1895  edition, 
VI,  254,  n. 

2  J/ist.  Mss.  Comm.,  12  Rep.  App.,  Part  VII,  p.  47.  »  Ibid. 

*  Hatton  Correspondence  ("  Camden  Society"),  I,  47.  Sir  John  Reresby  also 
alludes  to  this  visit  in  his  Memoirs,  p.  65. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  297 

The  Duchess's  reserve  evidently  had  no  connection  with  matters 
of  public  display.  Despite  her  natural  timidity  among  strangers, 
she  seems  to  have  enjoyed  being  stared  at  by  a  crowd,  when 
she  thought  of  it  as  a  unit,  not  as  individuals.  This  delight 
in  attracting  notice  resembles  the  tendency  towards  blatant 
self-revelation  apparent  throughout  her  books,  both  of  which 
characteristics  may  be  laid  to  the  same  shyness  that  denied  her 
more  common  means  of  self-expression.  She  could  not  talk 
familiarly  with  casual  acquaintances,  and  to  make  up  for  that 
defect,  she  asked  recognition  from  a  larger  public,  the  world 
en  masse. 

Something  of  the  Duchess's  strange  manner  in  doing  so 
may  be  laid  to  the  ancient  stately  tradition,  still  more  to  her 
personal  oddities.  "  I  never  took  delight  in  closets,  or  cabinets 
of  toys,"  she  tells  us,^  **  but  in  the  variety  of  fine  clothes,  and 
such  toys  as  only  were  to  adorn  my  person."  And  again  i^  "I 
took  great  delight  in  attiring,  fine  dressing,  and  fashions,  es- 
pecially such  fashions  as  I  did  invent  myself,  not  taking  that 
pleasure  in  such  fashions  as  was  invented  by  others.  Also  I 
did  dislike  any  should  follow  my  fashions,  for  I  always  took 
delight  in  a  singularity,  even  in  accoutrements  of  habits." 
This  whim  of  1656  had  ten  years  later  become  an  obsession, 
which  subjected  its  author  to  severe  ridicule  in  modish  London. 
Pepys's  second  notice  voices  the  common  opinion,  when  on 
April  26  he  ''  met  my  Lady  Newcastle  going  with  her  coaches 
and  footmen  all  in  velvet :  herself,  whom  I  never  saw  before, 
as  I  have  heard  her  often  described,  for  all  the  town-talk  is 
now  a-days  of  her  extravagancies,  with  her  velvet-cap,  her  hair 
about  her  ears ;  many  black  patches,  because  of  pimples  about 
her  mouth;  naked-necked,  without  anything  about  it,  and  a 
black  just-au-corps.  She  seemed  to  me  a  very  comely  woman  : 
but  I  hope  to  see  more  of  her  on  May-day." 

1  Firth,  p.  174.  2  Ibid.,  p.  175. 


298  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

On  May-day  Pepys  was  not  very  fortunate,  although  he 
made  every  effort  to  carry  out  his  purpose :  "  Sir  W.  Pen  and 
I  in  his  coach,  Tiburne-way,  into  the  Park,  where  a  horrid 
dust,  and  a  number  of  coaches,  without  pleasure  or  order. 
That  which  we,  and  almost  all  went  for,  was  to  see  my  Lady 
Newcastle;  which  we  could  not,  she  being  followed  and 
crowded  upon  by  coaches  all  the  way  she  went,  that  nobody 
could  come  near  her;  only  I  could  see  she  was  in  a  large 
black  coach,  adorned  with  silver  instead  of  gold,  and  so  white 
curtains,  and  everything  black  and  white,  and  herself  in  her 
cap.  .  .  .  When  we  had  spent  half  an  hour  in  the  Park,  we 
went  out  again,  weary  of  the  dust,  and  despairing  of  seeing  my 
Lady  Newcastle ;  and  so  back  the  same  way,  and  to  St.  James's 
thinking  to  have  met  my  Lady  Newcastle  before  she  got  home, 
but  we  staying  by  the  way  to  drink,  she  got  home  a  little 
before  us :  so  we  lost  our  labours."  On  the  loth  this  tireless 
novelty-seeker  ''  drove  hard  towards  Clerkenwell,  thinking  to 
have  overtaken  my  Lady  Newcastle,  whom  I  saw  before  us  in 
her  coach,  with  lOO  boys  and  girls  running  looking  upon  her : 
but  I  could  not :  and  so  she  got  home  before  I  could  come 
up  to  her.  But  I  will  get  time  to  see  her."  That  time  finally 
arrived,  but  the  circumstances  were  somewhat  particular  and 
demand  special  consideration. 

Meanwhile  we  may  notice  what  impression  the  Duchess 
made  upon  another  diarist,  John  Evelyn.  He,  it  will  be  re- 
membered, was  the  son-in-law  of  Sir  Richard  Browne,  at  whose 
chapel  in  Paris  Newcastle  had  married  Margaret  Lucas,  and 
to  him  therefore  they  felt  under  obligations.  On  April  i8, 
Evelyn  ''went  to  make  court  to  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of 
Newcastle  at  their  house  in  Clerkenwell,  ^  being  newly  come 

1  There  was  a  dispute  over  whether  this  house  was  Newcastle's  by  virtue 
of  the  Act  restoring  his  property  lost  during  the  Rebellion  {Hist.  Mss. 
Comm.,  y  Rep.,  Parti,  p.  135  a). 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  299 

out  of  the  north.  They  received  me  with  great  kindnesse,  and 
I  was  much  pleas'd  with  the  extraordinary  fanciful  habit,  garb, 
and  discourse  of  the  Dutchess."  A  week  later  he  "  visited 
again  y*  Duke  of  Newcastle,  with  whom  I  had  ben  acquainted 
long  before  in  France,  where  the  Dutchess  had  obligation  to  my 
Wife's  mother,  for  her  marriage  there ;  .  .  .  My  Wife  being 
with  me,  the  Duke  and  Dutchess  both  would  needs  bring  her 
to  the  very  Court."  ^  By  way  of  acknowledgment,  on  the 
27th,  "  I  went  againe  with  my  Wife  to  the  Dutchess  of  New- 
castle, who  receiv'd  her  in  a  kind  of  transport,  suitable  to  her 
extravagant  humour  and  dresse,  which  was  very  singular."  So 
the  returned  Royalists  vied  in  showing  one  another  courtesies, 
for  there  is  no  more  mighty  breeder  of  camaraderie  than  com- 
mon adversity.  Mistress  Evelyn  was  not  blind  to  the  Duchess's 
feminine  foibles,  however,  as  appears  in  a  letter  from  her  of 
about  this  time  :  ^ 

I  was  surprised  to  find  so  much  extravagance  and  vanity  in  any 
person  not  confined  within  four  walls.  Her  habit  particular,  fantastical, 
not  unbecoming  a  good  shape,  which  she  may  truly  boast  of.  Her  face 
discovers  the  facility  of  the  sex,  in  being  yet  persuaded  it  deserves  the 
esteem  years  forbid,  by  the  infinite  care  she  takes  to  place  her  curls 
and  patches.  Her  mien  surpasses  the  imagination  of  poets,  or  the 
descriptions  of  a  romance  heroine's  greatness ;  her  gracious  bows, 
seasonable  nods,  courteous  stretching  out  of  her  hands,  twinkling  of 
her  eyes,  and  various  gestures  of  approbation,  show  what  may  be 
expected  from  her  discourse,  which  is  as  airy,  empty,  whimsical,  and 
rambling  as  her  books,  aiming  at  science,  difficulties,  high  notions, 
terminating  commonly  in  nonsense,  oaths  and  obscenity. 

In  the  same  interview  "  she  swore  if  the  schools  did  not  banish 
Aristotle,"  in  favor  of  her  writings,  "  they  did  her  wrong."  ^ 

The  Evelyns  and  Cavendishes  seem  to  have  continued  their 
acquaintance,  to  judge  from  an  extant  letter,  which  is  dated 

1  Entry  for  April  25,  1667. 

2  Introduction  to  Everyman  edition  of  the  Life^  p.  xvi. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  xvii. 


300  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

June  15,  1674.  It  is  written  by  Evelyn  to  the  Duchess,  who 
died  in  the  preceding  December,  so  that  some  confusion  of 
times  and  seasons  has  occurred,  although  the  letter  appears  to 
be  genuine  in  its  thanks  for  her  inevitable  present  of  books 
and  in  its  suggestion  that  he  has  reciprocated  with  some 
plans  for  landscape  gardening :  ^ 

I  go  not  into  my  study  without  reproach  to  my  prodigious  ingrati- 
tude, whilst  I  behold  such  a  pile  of  favours  &  monuments  of  yr  incom- 
parable spirit,  without  having  yet  had  the  good  fortune,  or  the  good 
manners  indeede,  to  make  any  recognitions  as  becomes  a  person  so 
immensely  oblig'd.  That  I  presume  to  make  this  small  present  to  y 
Grace  (who  were  pleas'd  to  accept  my  collection  of  Architects,  to  whom 
timber  and  planting  are  subsidiaries)  is  not  for  the  dignitie  of  the  sub- 
ject (tho'  Princes  have  not  disdain'd  to  cultivate  trees  &  gardens  with 
the  same  hands  they  manag'd  sceptres)  but  because  it  is  the  best 
expression  of  my  gratitude  that  I  can  returne. 

Thereupon  he  launches  forth  into  a  comparison  of  the  Duchess 
with  all  the  women  who  have  ever  written  and  concludes  in  a 
burst  of  eloquence,^  ''  What  of  sublime  &  worthy  in  the  nature 
of  things,  dos  not  y""  Grace  comprehend  and  explaine !  " 
Another  human  touch  brings  this  epistle  to  a  close :  ^ 

My  wife  (whom  you  have  ben  pleas'd  to  dignifie  by  the  name  of 
yr  daughter,  &  to  tell  her  that  you  looke  upon  her  as  your  owne,  for 
a  mother's  sake  of  hers,  who  had  so  greate  a  veneration  of  yr  Grace) 
presents  her  most  humble  duty  to  you  by,  Madame, 

Yr  Grace's  &c 

In  this  letter  there  seems  to  be  something  more  than  mere 
lip  service,  although  the  conventional  compliments  must  of 
course  be  heavily  discounted.  Evelyn  was  apparently  able 
to  penetrate  beneath  Margaret  Cavendish's  superficial  eccen- 
tricities to  the  warmly  affectionate  heart  beating  under  her 
strange  exterior. 

1  Wheatley's  Evelyn,  III,  395. 

2  Ibid.,  Ill,  397. 

8  Ibid,  III,  397-398. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  301 

Not  so  could  the  court  at  large  overlook  this  cause  for 
merriment,  as  an  episode  in  the  Memoirs  of  Count  Grammont 
indirectly  shows.  It  is,  of  course,  far  from  reliable,  but  sympto- 
matic none  the  less.  De  Grammont  arrived  late  for  a  certain 
ball  and,  in  excusing  himself,  concludes :  ^ 

I  had  forgot  to  tell  you,  that  to  increase  my  ill  humour,  I  was 
stopped,  as  I  was  getting  out  of  my  chair,  by  the  devil  of  a  phantom 
in  masquerade,  who  would  by  all  means  persuade  me,  that  the  queen 
had  commanded  me  to  dance  with  her ;  and,  as  I  excused  myself  with 
the  least  rudeness  possible,  she  charged  me  to  find  out  who  was  to  be 
her  partner,  and  desired  me  to  send  him  to  her  immediately :  so  that 
your  Majesty  will  do  well  to  give  orders  about  it ;  for  she  has  placed 
herself  in  ambush  in  a  coach,  to  seize  upon  all  those  who  pass  through 
Whitehall.  However,  I  must  tell  you,  that  it  is  worth  while  to  see  her 
dress ;  for  she  must  have  at  least  sixty  ells  of  gauze  and  silver  tissue 
about  her,  not  to  mention  a  sort  of  a  pyramid  upon  her  head,  adorned 
with  a  hundred  thousand  baubles.  This  last  account  surprised  all  the 
assembly,  except  those  who  had  a  share  in  the  plot.  The  queen 
assured  them  that  all  she  had  appointed  for  the  ball  were  present; 
and  the  king,  having  paused  some  minutes:  "  I  bet,"  said  he,  "that 
it  is  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle."  "And  I,"  said  Lord  Muskerry,  com- 
ing up  to  Miss  Hamilton,  "  will  bet  it  is  another  fool ;  for  I  am  very 
much  mistaken  if  it  is  not  my  wife." 

Muskerry  was  right,  but  to  judge  from  Pepys's  realistic  descrip- 
tion, this  costume  might  well  have  been  the  Duchess's,  although 
she  was  never  known  to  display  such  confident  forwardness 
in  action. 

A  more  frankly  fictitious  anecdote  is  contained  in  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  Peveril  of  the  Peak,  Scott  had  edited  Anthony  Hamil- 
ton's book  and  from  the  passage  just  cited  probably  gained  his 
idea  of  the  Duchess's  personality.  In  justice  to  the  lady,  it 
must  be  admitted  that  no  historical  basis  underlies  any  such 
conception  as  is  expressed  in  his  novel :  ^ 

^  Memoirs  of  Count  Grammont,  London,  1846,  pp.  134-135. 
2  Peveril  of  the  Peak,  Border  Edition,  III,  228-230. 


302  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

An  attendant  on  the  Court  announced  suddenly  to  their  Majesties 
that  a  lady,  who  would  only  announce  herself  as  a  Peeress  of  England, 
desired  to  be  admitted  into  the  presence. 

The  Queen  said,  hastily,  it  was  impossible.  No  peeress,  without 
announcing  her  title,  was  entitled  to  the  privilege  of  her  rank. 

"  I  could  be  sworn,"  said  a  nobleman  in  attendance,  "  that  it  is  some 
whim  of  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle." 

The  attendant  who  brought  the  message  said  that  he  did  indeed 
believe  it  to  be  the  Duchess,  both  from  the  singularity  of  the  message, 
and  that  the  lady  spoke  with  somewhat  a  foreign  accent. 

"  In  the  name  of  madness,  then,"  said  the  King,  "  let  us  admit  her. 
Her  Grace  is  an  entire  raree-show  in  her  own  person  —  a  universal 
masquerade  —  indeed  a  sort  of  private  Bedlam-hospital,  her  whole 
ideas  being  like  so  many  patients  crazed  upon  the  subjects  of  love  and 
literature,  who  act  nothing  in  their  vagaries,  save  Minerva,  Venus, 
and  the  nine  Muses." 

"  Your  Majesty's  pleasure  must  always  supersede  mine,"  said  the 
Queen.  "  I  only  hope  I  shall  not  be  expected  to  entertain  so  fantastic 
a  personage  —  The  last  time  she  came  to  Court,  Isabella "  —  (she 
spoke  to  one  of  her  Portuguese  ladies  of  honour)  —  "you  had  not 
returned  from  our  lovely  Lisbon,  —  her  Grace  had  the  assurance  to 
assume  a  right  to  bring  a  train-bearer  into  my  apartment ;  and  when 
this  was  not  allowed,  what  then,  think  you,  she  did?  —  even  caused 
her  train  to  be  made  so  long,  that  three  mortal  yards  of  satin  and 
silver  remained  in  the  antechamber,  supported  by  four  wenches, 
while  the  other  end  was  attached  to  her  Grace's  person,  as  she  paid 
her  duty  at  the  upper  end  of  the  presence-room.  Full  thirty  yards 
of  the  most  beautiful  silk  did  her  Grace's  madness  employ  in  this 
manner." 

"  And  most  beautiful  damsels  they  were  who  bore  this  portentous 
train,"  said  the  King  —  "a  train  never  equalled  save  by  that  of  the 
great  comet  in  sixty-six.  Sedley  and  Etherege  told  us  wonders  of 
them ;  for  it  is  one  advantage  of  this  new  fashion  brought  up  by  the 
Duchess,  that  a  matron  may  be  totally  unconscious  of  the  coquetry 
of  her  train  and  its  attendants." 

"  Am  I  to  understand,  then.  Your  Majesty's  pleasure  is,  that  the 
lady  is  to  be  admitted  .^  "  said  the  usher. 

"Certainly,"  said  the  King;  "that  is,  if  the  incognita  be  really 
entitled  to  the  honour  —  It  may  be  as  well  to  enquire  her  title  —  there 
are  more  madwomen  abroad  than  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  I  will 
walk  into  the  anteroom  myself,  and  receive  your  answer." 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  303 

Impressionistically  this  story  is  successful  in  establishing 
the  color  after  which  Scott  was  striving.  It  does  reflect  com- 
mon court  opinion  concerning  the  Duchess's  eccentric  foibles, 
but  it  entirely  leaves  out  of  account  the  lady  herself.  She 
might  have  demanded  unconditional  admittance,  like  the 
Countess  of  Derby  in  Sir  Walter's  novel,  but  one  does  not 
imagine  that  the  episode  about  her  train  could  contain  a  grain 
of  truth.  How  little  Scott  knew  of  the  historical  Duchess  may 
be  seen  by  his  crediting  her  with  a  foreign  accent,  while, 
despite  many  years  abroad,  she  never  learned  a  word  of  any 
alien  speech.  ''  I  had  a  natural  stupidity  towards  the  learning 
of  any  other  language  than  my  native  tongue,"  is  her  admis- 
sion,i  ''for  I  could  sooner  and  with  more  facility  understand 
the  sense,  than  remember  the  words,  and  for  want  of  such 
memory  makes  me  so  unlearned  in  foreign  languages  as  I  am." 
Unfortunately  the  Duchess  is  now  best  known  by  these  highly 
colored  inventions  of  Scott  and  Hamilton,  together  with 
Pepys's  literal  but  prejudiced  descriptions.  So  it  is  that 
people  to-day  think  of  Margaret  Cavendish  —  if  they  think  of 
her  at  all  —  as  "the  mad  Duchess," ^  an  antique  curiosity 
wandering  through  the  Restoration  court  to  furnish  amusement 
for  its  sophisticated  members.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  all  these 
apparent  inanities  and  absurdities,  if  reduced  to  their  proper 
proportions,  may  be  explained  in  the  light  of  her  natural 
qualities  and  unusual  career.  Moreover,  these  visits  to  London 
played  such  a  small  part,  even  in  her  later  years,  that  it  is 
neither  fairness  nor  wisdom  exclusively  to  accept  the  testimony 
concerning  them. 

Apart  from  the  literary  and  social  aspects  of  the  Duchess's 
life  in  town  is  her  interest  in  scientific  investigations.  The  pub- 
lication of  her  "  philosophical "  books  showed  a  certain  tendency 
in  this  direction,  so  that  it  was  natural  enough  she  should 

1  Firth,  p.  174.  2  Jenkins,  p.  23. 


304  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

wish  to  affiliate  herself  with  prominent  men  of  science.  The 
meeting  place  for  such  persons  was  '*  the  Royal  Society  of 
London,"  which  had  been  revivified  with  remarkable  success 
after  the  Restoration ;  and  accordingly  at  a  meeting  of  the 
Council  on  May  23,  1667,1  ''it  was  resolved,  that  the  duchess 
of  Newcastle,  having  intimated  her  desire  to  be  present  at  one 
of  the  meetings  of  the  society,  be  entertained  with  some  ex- 
periments at  the  next  meeting;  and  that  the  lord  BERKELEY 
and  Dr.  CHARLETON  be  desired  to  give  notice  of  it  to  her 
Grace,  and  to  attend  her  to  the  meeting  on  the  Thursday  fol- 
lowing. It  was  ordered,  that  for  the  said  entertainment  there 
be  made  ready  the  experiments  of  colours  formerly  mentioned 
by  Mr.  BOYLE ;  the  weighing  of  an  air  in  an  exhausted 
receiver;  the  dissolving  of  flesh  with  a  certain  liquor  of 
Mr.  BOYLE'S  suggesting."  On  the  next  page  we  find  that,^ 
"the  lord  BERKELEY  mentioned,  that  the  duchess  of  New- 
castle had  expressed  a  great  desire  to  come  to  the  society,  and 
to  see  some  of  their  experiments ;  but  that  she  desired  to  be 
invited.  This  was  seconded  by  the  earl  of  CARLISLE  and 
Dr.  CHARLETON,  who  pressing,  that  it  might  be  put  to 
the  vote  accordingly,  whether  the  duchess  of  Newcastle  should 
at  her  desire  be  invited  to  be  present  at  the  meeting  on  the 
Thursday  following;  it  was  carried  in  the  affirmative.  The 
ceremonies  and  the  subjects  for  her  entertainment  were 
referred  to  the  council."  The  Duchess  evidently  stood  on 
her  dignity  at  first  but  finally  achieved  the  respect  which 
she  felt  was  due  her. 

On  May  30,  "the  duchess  of  Newcastle  was  at  the  meeting 
of  the  Royal  Society,  seated  at  the  right  hand  of  the  Presi- 
dent." ^   The  society's  records  state  that  she,^  "  coming  in,  the 

1  Birch's  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  II,  175.  ^  ibjd.,  II,  176. 

3  News-letter  in  Hist.  Mss.  Comm.,  12  Rep.  App.y  Part  VII,  p.  48. 
*  Birch,  II,  177-178. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  305 

experiments  appointed  for  her  entertainment  were  made ;  First, 
that  of  weighing  the  air,  which  was  done  with  a  glass  receiver 
of  the  capacity  of  nine  gallons  and  three  pints ;  which  being 
exhausted,  and  put  into  a  scale,  and  then  opened,  and  the  air 
let  in,  weighed  thereupon  one  ounce  and  seventy-one  carats 
more  than  it  did  when  exhausted.  Mr.  BOYLE  suggested 
afterwards,  that  a  gage  might  be  employed  to  know  how 
much  air  was  left,  which  was  ordered  to  be  done.  Next  were 
made  several  experiments  of  mixing  colour.  Then  two  cold 
liquors  by  mixture  made  hot.  Then  the  experiment  of  making 
water  bubble  up  in  the  rarefying  engine,  by  drawing  out  the 
air;  and  that  of  making  an  empty  bladder  swell  in  the  same 
engine.  Then  the  experiment  of  making  a  body  swim  in  the 
middle  of  the  water :  And  that  of  two  well-wrought  marbles, 
which  were  not  separated  but  by  the  weight  of  forty-seven 
pounds.  After  the  duchess  was  withdrawn,  Mr.  HOOKE 
was  put  in  mind  of  the  experiment  of  measuring  the  earth 
in  St.  James's  park,  to  be  tried  there  on  the  Monday  morning 
following."  So  much  for  facts.  John  Evelyn  has  this  men- 
tion of  the  occurrence  :  ^ 

To  London  to  wait  on  the  Dutchess  of  Newcastle  (who  was  a 
mighty  pretender  to  learning,  poetrie  and  philosophic,  and  had  in  both 
published  divers  bookes)  to  the  Royal  Society,  whether  she  came  in 
great  pomp,  and  being  received  by  our  Lord  President  at  the  dore  of 
our  meeting  roome,  the  mace  &c  carried  before  him,  had  several  ex- 
periments shewed  to  her.  I  conducted  her  Grace  to  her  coach  and 
retiim'd  home. 

Pepys  as  usual  has  the  fullest  and  most  lively  account :  ^ 

After  dinner  I  walked  to  Arundell  House,  the  way  very  nasty,  the 
day  of  meeting  of  the  Society  being  changed  from  Wednesday  to 
Thursday,  which  I  knew  not  before,  because  the  Wednesday  is  a 
Council-day,  and  several  of  the  Council  are  of  the  Society,  and  would 

1  Entry  for  May  30,  1667.  ^  Entry  for  May  30,  1667. 


3o6  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

come  but  for  their  attending  the  King  at  Council ;  where  I  find  much 
company,  indeed  very  much  company,  in  expectation  of  the  Duchesse 
of  Newcastle,  who  had  desired  to  be  invited  to  the  Society ;  and  was, 
after  much  debate,  pro  and  con^  it  seems  many  being  against  it ;  and 
we  do  believe  the  town  will  be  full  of  ballads  of  it.  Anon  comes  the 
Duchesse  with  her  women  attending  her ;  among  others,  the  Fera- 
bosco,  of  whom  so  much  talk  is  that  her  lady  would  bid  her  show  her 
face  and  kill  the  gallants.  She  is  indeed  black  and  hath  good  black 
little  eyes,  but  otherwise  but  a  very  ordinary  woman  I  do  think,  but 
they  say  sings  well.  The  Duchesse  hath  been  a  good,  comely  woman ; 
but  her  dress  so  antick,  and  her  deportment  so  ordinary,  that  I  do  not 
like  her  at  all,  nor  did  I  hear  her  say  any  thing  that  was  worth  hear- 
ing, but  that  she  was  full  of  admiration,  all  admiration.  Several  fine 
experiments  were  shown  her  of  colours,  loadstones,  microscopes,  and 
of  liquers :  among  others,  of  one  that  did,  while  she  was  there,  turn  a 
piece  of  roasted  mutton  into  pure  blood,  which  was  very  rare.  Here 
was  Mrs.  Moore  of  Cambridge,  whom  I  had  not  seen  before,  and  I 
was  glad  to  see  her ;  as  also  a  very  pretty  black  boy  that  run  up  and 
down  the  room,  somebody's  child  in  Arundell  House.  After  they  had 
shown  her  many  experiments,  and  she  cried  still  she  was  full  of  ad- 
miration, she  departed,  being  led  out  and  in  by  several  Lords,  that 
were  there ;  among  others  Lord  George  Berkeley  and  Earl  of  Carlisle, 
and  a  very  pretty  young  man,  the  Duke  of  Somerset. 

At  this  meeting  there  may  very  well  have  taken  place  a 
reported  dialogue  betw^een  the  Duchess  and  Dr.  Wilkins,  later 
made  Bishop  of  Chester.  Wilkins  was  a  prominent  member 
of  the  Royal  Society  and  a  man  of  some  wit,  to  judge  by 
his  repartee  in  this  instance.  The  episode  has  come  down 
to  us  in  several  forms,  but  its  origin  is  not  clear.  As  a 
note  to  his  1806  edition  of  Walpole's  Catalogue,  Thomas 
Park  writes :  ^ 

In  a  book  of  anecdotes  this  is  related.  The  duchess  of  Newcastle 
once  asked  bishop  Wilkins,  how  she  should  get  up  to  the  world  in  the 
moon,  which  he  had  discovered .?  "  Oh,  Madam,  (said  the  prelate)  your 
Grace  has  built  so  many  castles  in  the  air,  that  you  cannot  want  a 
place  to  bait  at." 

1  III,  154,  n. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  307 

In  1844  Louisa  Stuart  Costello  records  the  dialogue  as  follows  :^ 

"  Doctor,  where  am  I  to  find  a  place  for  bating  at  in  the  way  up  to 
that  planet  ?  "  "  Madam,"  he  replied,  "  of  all  the  people  in  the  world, 
I  never  expected  that  question  from  you,  who  have  built  so  many 
castles  in  the  air,  that  you  may  lie  every  night  in  one  of  your  own." 

The  misspelling  of  "  bating  "  leads  one  to  imagine  that  this 
story's  vitality  may  have  been  oral,  a  conjecture  which  is  more 
firmly  established  by  the  change  of  *' bating  "  to  "waiting"  in 
still  a  third  version.  Stanley  in  his  Memorials  of  Westminster 
Abbey  makes  the  Duchess  ask,^  *'  *  Doctor,  where  am  I  to  find 
a  place  for  waiting  in  the  way  up  to  that  Planet.?'  'Madam,' 
Wilkins  replied,  *  of  all  people  in  the  world,  I  never  expected 
that  question  from  you,  who  have  built  so  many  castles  in  the 
air,  that  you  may  be  every  night  at  one  of  your  own.'  "  The 
three  forms  of  this  anecdote,  given  in  historical  sequence,  go  to 
show  the  instability  of  any  traditional  narration,  but  that  some 
repartee  of  the  kind  took  place  seems  sufficiently  well  attested. 
The  Duchess  closes  the  True  Relation  with  an  analysis  of 
her  own  character,  which  affords  us  certain  minor  sidelights 
upon  its  composite  whole.  These  remarks  are  pervaded  by  the 
nalfvet6,  verbosity,  and  disorder  which  run  throughout  her  en- 
tire autobiography,  and  which  make  it  rather  a  natural  confes- 
sion than  a  work  of  art.  Its  value,  like  that  of  her  other 
works,  lies  in  what  we  learn  concerning  the  Duchess,  not  in 
her  manner  of  telling  us  the  facts :  ^ 

As  for  my  disposition,  it  is  more  inclining  to  be  melancholy  than 
merry,  but  not  crabbed  or  peevishly  melancholy,  but  soft,  melting,  soli- 
tary and  contemplating  melancholy.  And  I  am  apt  to  weep  rather  than 
laugh,  not  that  I  do  often  either  of  them.  Also  I  am  tender-natured, 
for  it  troubles  my  conscience  to  kill  a  fly,  and  the  groans  of  a  dying 
beast  strike  my  soul.   Also  where  I  place  a  particular  affection,  I  love 

1  Memoirs  of  Eminent  Englishwomen^  III,  219. 

2  Edition  of  1868,  p.  233. 
»  Firth,  pp.  175-178. 


308  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

extraordinarily  and  constantly,  yet  not  fondly,  but  soberly  and  observ- 
ingly,  not  to  hang  about  them  as  a  trouble,  but  to  wait  upon  them  as 
a  servant ;  but  this  affection  will  take  no  root,  but  where  I  think  or 
find  merit,  and  have  leave  both  from  divine  and  moral  laws.  Yet  I  find 
this  passion  so  troublesome,  as  it  is  the  only  torment  of  my  life,  for 
fear  any  evil  misfortune  or  accident,  or  sickness,  or  death,  should  come 
unto  them,  insomuch  as  I  am  never  freely  at  rest.  Likewise  I  am  grate- 
ful, for  I  never  received  a  courtesy — but  I  am  impatient  and  troubled 
until  I  can  return  it.  Also  I  am  chaste,  both  by  nature,  and  education, 
insomuch  as  I  do  abhor  an  unchaste  thought.  Likewise,  I  am  seldom 
angry,  as  my  servants  may  witness  for  me,  for  I  rather  choose  to  suffer 
some  inconveniences  than  disturb  my  thoughts,  which  makes  me  wink 
many  times  at  their  faults ;  but  when  I  am  angry,  I  am  very  angry, 
but  yet  it  is  soon  over,  and  I  am  easily  pacified,  if  it  be  not  such  an 
injury  as  may  create  a  hate.  Neither  am  I  apt  to  be  exceptious  or 
jealous,  but  if  I  have  the  least  symptom  of  this  passion,  I  declare  it 
to  those  it  concerns,  for  I  never  let  it  lie  smothering  in  my  breast  to 
breed  a  malignant  disease  in  the  mind,  which  might  break  out  into 
extravagant  passions,  or  railing  speeches,  or  indiscreet  actions ;  but  I 
examine  moderately,  reason  soberly,  and  plead  gently  in  my  own  be- 
half, through  a  desire  to  keep  those  affections  I  had,  or  at  least 
thought  to  have.  And  truly  I  am  so  vain,  as  to  be  so  self-conceited, 
or  so  naturally  partial,  to  think  my  friends  have  as  much  reason  to 
love  me  as  another,  since  none  can  love  more  sincerely  than  I,  and  it 
were  an  injustice  to  prefer  a  fainter  affection,  or  to  esteem  the  body 
more  than  the  mind.  Likewise  I  am  neither  spiteful,  envious,  nor 
malicious.  I  repine  not  at  the  gifts  that  Nature  or  Fortune  bestows 
upon  others,  yet  I  am  a  great  emulator ;  for,  though  I  wish  none  worse 
than  they  are,  yet  it  is  lawful  for  me  to  wish  myself  the  best,  and  to 
do  my  honest  endeavour  thereunto.  For  I  think  it  no  crime  to  wish 
myself  the  exactest  of  Nature's  works,  my  thread  of  life  the  longest, 
my  chain  of  destiny  the  strongest,  my  mind  the  peaceablest,  my  life 
the  pleasantest,  my  death  the  easiest,  and  the  greatest  saint  in  heaven ; 
also  to  do  my  endeavour,  so  far  as  honour  and  honesty  doth  allow  of, 
to  be  the  highest  on  Fortune's  wheel  and  to  held  the  wheel  from  turn- 
ing, if  I  can.  And  if  it  be  commendable  to  wish  another's  good,  it 
were  a  sin  not  to  wish  my  own ;  for  as  envy  is  a  vice,  so  emulation 
is  a  virtue,  but  emulation  is  in  the  way  to  ambition,  or  indeed  it  is  a 
noble  ambition.  But  I  fear  my  ambition  inclines  to  vain-glory,  for  I 
am  very  ambitious;  yet  'tis  neither  for  beauty,  wit,  tides,  wealth  or 
power,  but  as  they  are  steps  to  raise  me  to  Fame's  tower,  which  is  to 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF 


309 


live  by  remembrance  in  after-ages.  Likewise  I  am  that  the  vulgar  call 
proud,  not  out  of  self-conceit,  or  to  slight  or  condemn  any,  but  scorn- 
ing to  do  a  base  or  mean  act,  and  disdaining  rude  or  unworthy  per- 
sons ;  insomuch,  that  if  I  should  find  any  that  were  rude  or  too  bold, 
I  should  be  apt  to  be  so  passionate,  as  to  affront  them,  if  I  can,  unless 
discretion  should  get  betwixt  my  passion  and  their  boldness,  which 
sometimes  perchance  it  might  if  discretion  should  crowd  hard  for 
place.  ^  For  though  I  am  naturally  bashful,  yet  in  such  a  case  my  spirits 
would  be  all  on  fire.  Otherwise  I  am  so  well  bred,  as  to  be  civil  to  all 
persons,  of  all  degrees,  or  qualities.  Likewise  I  am  so  proud,  or  rather 
just  to  my  Lord,  as  to  abate  nothing  of  the  quality  of  his  wife,  for  if 
honour  be  the  mark  of  merit,  and  his  master's  royal  favour,  who  will 
favour  none  but  those  that  have  merit  to  deserve,  it  were  a  baseness 
for  me  to  neglect  the  ceremony  thereof.  Also  in  some  cases  I  am 
naturally  a  coward,  and  in  other  cases  very  valiant.  As  for  example, 
if  any  of  my  nearest  friends  were  in  danger  I  should  never  consider 
my  life  in  striving  to  help  them,  though  I  were  sure  to  do  them  no 
good,  and  would  willingly,  nay  cheerfully,  resign  my  life  for  their 
sakes:  likewise  I  should  not  spare  my  life,  if  honour  bids  me  die. 
But  in  a  danger  where  my  friends,  or  my  honour  is  not  concerned,  or 
engaged,  but  only  my  life  to  be  unprofitably  lost,  I  am  the  veriest 
coward  in  nature,  as  upon  the  sea,  or  any  dangerous  places,  or  of 
thieves,  or  fire,  or  the  like.  Nay  the  shooting  of  a  gun,  although  but 
a  pot-gun, 2  will  make  me  start,  and  stop  my  hearing,  much  less  have 
I  courage  to  discharge  one;  or  if  a  sword  should  be  held  against 
me,  although  but  in  jest,  I  am  afraid.^  Also  as  I  am  not  covetous,  so 
I  am  not  prodigal,  but  of  the  two  I  am  inclining  to  be  prodigal,  yet 
I  cannot  say  to  a  vain  prodigality,  because  I  imagine  it  is  to  a  profit- 
able end ;  for  perceiving  the  world  is  given,  or  apt  to  honour  the  out- 
side more  than  the  inside,  worshipping  show  more  than  substance; 
and  I  am  so  vain  (if  it  be  a  vanity)  as  to  endeavour  to  be  worshipped, 
rather  than  not  to  be  regarded.  Yet  I  shall  never  be  so  prodigal  as 
to  impoverish  my  friends,  or  go  beyond  the  limits  or  facility  of  our 
estate.  And  though  I  desire  to  appear  to  the  best  advantage,  whilst 
I  live  in  the  view  of  the  public  world,*  yet  I  could  most  willingly  ex- 
clude myself,  so  as  never  to  see  the  face  of  any  creature  but  my  Lord 
as  long  as  I  live,  inclosing  myself  like  an  anchorite,  wearing  a  frieze 

^  It  is  interesting  to  notice  how  the  Duchess's  "  philosophical "  theories 
pervade  all  her  mental  processes.  ^  Pop-gun. 

'  "  Elle  aimait  la  vie  somptueuse,  ellc  savait  calculer."  —  M.  Montegut,  p.  206. 


3IO  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

gown,  tied  with  a  cord  about  my  waist. ^  But  I  hope  my  readers  will 
not  think  me  vain  for  writing  my  life,  since  there  have  been  many 
that  have  done  the  like,  as  Cassar,  Ovid,  and  many  more,  both  men 
and  women,  and  I  know  no  reason  I  may  not  do  it  as  well  as  they : 
but  I  verily  believe  some  censuring  readers  will  scornfully  say,  why 
hath  this  Lady  writ  her  own  life?  since  none  cares  to  know  whose 
daughter  she  was  or  whose  wife  she  is,  or  how  she  was  bred,  or  what 
fortunes  she  had,  or  how  she  lived,  or  what  humour  or  disposition  she 
was  of.  I  answer  that  it  is  true,  that  't  is  to  no  purpose  to  the  readers, 
but  it  is  to  the  authoress,  because  I  write  it  for  my  own  sake,  not 
theirs.  Neither  did  I  intend  this  piece  for  to  delight,  but  to  divulge ; 
not  to  please  the  fancy,  but  to  tell  the  truth,  lest  after-ages  should 
mistake,  in  not  knowing  I  was  daughter  to  one  Master  Lucas  of 
St.  Johns,  near  Colchester,  in  Essex,  second  wife  to  the  Lord  Marquis 
of  Newcastle  ;  for  my  Lord  having  had  two  wives,  I  might  easily  have 
been  mistaken,  especially  if  I  should  die  and  my  Lord  marry  again. 

Such  was  Margaret  Cavendish,  first  Duchess  of  Newcastle, 
as  interesting  and  as  strange  a  figure  as  is  to  be  found  in  the 
range  of  EngHsh  Hterature.  She  is  sufficiently  striking  to  chal- 
lenge one's  instant  attention,  and  she  holds  it  by  sheer  force 
of  her  humanity.  Given  bashfulness  combined  with  feminine 
genius,  their  product  seems  almost  a  foregone  conclusion ;  the 
incidents  of  her  early  life  only  heightened  and  accentuated  an 
inevitable  process.  Reserve  was  the  keynote  of  Margaret  Lucas's 
nature,  reserve  cultivated  at  home,  developed  in  court,  domi- 
nating her  subsequent  career.  She  finally  could  not  conquer 
it,  nor  did  she  wish  to.  Contemplation  was  to  her  so  much 
more  satisfactory  than  action  that  a  state  of  quiet  repose 
seemed  Elysium  enough.  This  was  the  surface,  but  under- 
neath lay  a  woman's  instinct  for  emotion,  that  now  and  again 
unmistakably  breaks  out.  An  intense  love  for  her  husband  led 
towards  worldly  ambitions,  in  which  she,  as  his  wife,  must  have 
a  part.   These  thoughts,  no  doubt,  impelled  her  to  join  Orinda's 

1  A  True  Relation  immediately  follows  "  The  She  Anchoret,"  in  Nature's 
Pictures. 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  311 

circle,  to  visit  the  Royal  Society,  even  to  deck  herself  out 
(the  woman  still)  in  costumes  more  striking  than  appropriate. 
Above  all,  this  was  the  impulse  that  stimulated  and  made  pub- 
lic her  multifarious  compositions,  that  not  only  printed  them 
but  circulated  the  precious  copies  among  deserving,  i.e.  notable, 
personages.  Thus  the  Duchess  manifested  her  sex  in  writing, 
although,  except  for  inherent  bashfulness,  her  genius  would  not 
have  taken  that  exact  form.  There  is  nothing  really  inexpli- 
cable about  what  appears  at  first  to  be  a  unique  personality, 
when  it  is  considered  as  the  natural  exaggeration  of  the  female 
temperament.  Timidity  brought  out  the  Duchess's  latent  lit- 
erary talent,  which  expressed  itself  not  in  artistry  but  in  a 
simple  revelation  of  her  mind.  From  every  point  of  view,  then, 
—  cause,  effect,  and  substance  all  being  considered,  —  Ward 
is  right  when  he  states  that,^  "  if  literature,  arduously  as  she 
pursued  it,  was  to  her  only  a  noble  diversion,  it  was  never- 
theless an  organic  part  of  a  noble  life." 

To  gauge  the  moral  value  of  Margaret  Cavendish's  charac- 
ter would  be  as  futile  as  impossible,  for,  like  all  human  beings, 
the  better  one  comes  to  know  her,  the  more  difficult  it  is  to 
generalize  concerning  her  qualities.  True,  she  was  vain,  pedan- 
tic, self-sufficient ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  her  honesty,  loyalty, 
and  warmth  of  heart  cannot  be  gainsaid.  Although  she  proved 
the  laughing  stock  of  two  courts,  the  Duchess  had  the  qualifica- 
tions, by  no  means  common  during  Charles  II's  reign,  for  making 
an  astute  manager  and  a  loving  wife.  Her  surprising  absurdi- 
ties may  be  largely  laid  to  a  deficiency  in  any  sense  of  humor 
by  which  she  might  have  comprehended  the  normal  world  and 
her  own  relation  to  it.  But  high  seriousness  generally  goes 
hand  in  hand  with  a  powerful  imagination,  the  conspicuous 
feature  of  Margaret  Cavendish's  books,  the  basic  principle  in 
her  genius.    Her  excellences  and  defects  alike  depend  on  this 

*  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature,  VII,  229. 


312  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

preoccupation  with  unseen  things  at  the  expense  of  more  tran- 
sitory matters.  She  did  not  think  it  vastly  important  to  curb 
her  natural  instincts  and  therefore  is  quite  frank  to  admit  her 
own  failings.  Indeed  she  glories  in  them,  while  her  plays 
paradoxically  ring  with  denunciations  of  mankind's  consuming 
follies.  This  contradictory  attitude  is  essentially  a  woman's, 
wherein  perhaps  lies  its  clear  distinction,  its  mixture  of  incon- 
sistency and  noble  charm.  **  In  her  personality  as  it  stands 
forth  from  her  autobiography,"  writes  Ward  again,i  ''  there  is 
something  which  if  less  than  heroic  is  more  than  merely  attrac- 
tive." And  Charles  Lamb,  who  better  than  any  modern  has 
entered  into  the  Duchess's  spirit,  characterizes  her  with  finality 
as  ''a  dear  friend  of  mine,  of  the  last  century  but  one  —  the 
thrice  noble,  chaste  and  virtuous  —  but  again,  somewhat  fan- 
tastical and  original-brained,  generous  Margaret  Newcastle."  ^ 
Perhaps  the  fairest  way  of  all  to  survey  the  Duchess  is  through 
the  eyes  of  him  who  knew  and  loved  her  best  —  the  Duke 
himself.  Being  no  fool,  he  must  have  soon  perceived  what 
manner  of  person  his  wife  was  and  must  have  watched  her 
eccentricities  develop  with  the  years.  He  could  not  but  have 
noted  that  her  childlessness  offered  no  opportunity  for  affec- 
tionate expression  and  thac  her  consequent  need  of  utterance 
found  outlet  in  literary  production.  Newcastle  was  the  only 
person  on  whom  she  could  lavish  real  feeling,  as  appeared  in 
her  crowning  act  of  devotion,  the  Life  of  William  Cavendishe. 
No  doubt  he,  like  Pepys,  saw  the  absurdities  in  this  panegyric, 
but  innate  chivalry  would  not  admit  of  his  spurning  the  Duchess's 
good  intentions.  It  is  hard  to  believe  that  the  Duke  did  not 
realize  her  weaknesses  here  as  well  as  in  Poems  and  Fancies^ 
Orations y  or  the  ''  philosophical "  books,  where  he  laughs  slyly 
in  one  sleeve,  while  the  other  hand  extends  to  their  authoress 

^  Cambridge  History  of  English  Literature,  VII,  229. 

*  See  "  Mackery  End  in  Hertfordshire  "  in  Essays  of  Elia^  P-  iS'- 


THE  DUCHESS  HERSELF  313 

incredible  compliments.  Certainly  his  opinion  that  salt  is  the 
primal  cause  and  his  epigram  concerning  a  wise  woman  show 
that  Cavendish's  sense  of  humor  did  not  fall  short  in  regard 
to  his  wife's  idiosyncracies.  Yet,  at  the  same  time,  and  this 
is  the  important  point,  he  never  wavered  in  his  complete  attach- 
ment to  her.  A  woman  who  could  inspire  such  permanent 
affection,  despite  her  peculiar  shortcomings,  deserves  some- 
thing more  than  consummate  scorn  or  supercilious  ridicule. 
By  reason  of  this  very  complexity,  the  first  Duchess  of  New- 
castle is  not  to  be  lightly  dismissed  from  one's  attention.  On 
the  contrary  she  demands  an  unusual  share  of  consideration, 
sympathy,  and  respect. 


CONCLUSION 

Margaret  and  William  Cavendish  have  up  to  the  present 
time  been  considered  as  of  historical  rather  than  of  literary- 
importance,  and  this  book  can  only  confirm  that  verdict.  Never- 
theless, it  is  true  that  both  the  Duke  and  the  Duchess  of  New- 
castle have  a  place  in  the  history  of  literature,  a  place  which 
cannot  be  ignored.  The  Duke  was  a  classic  writer  on  horses, 
he  had  a  share  in  plays  by  Shirley  and  Shadwell,  and  he  may 
have  given  Dryden  considerable  aid  in  the  composition  of 
Sir  Martin  Mar-all \  his  *' Little  Book,"  addressed  to  King 
Charles,  will  be  more  appreciated  as  it  becomes  better  known. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  art  of  manage  is  an  outworn  subject, 
Newcastle's  dramatic  work  is  not  of  great  compass  or  value, 
and  the  ''  Little  Book "  is  comparatively  inaccessible.  It  is 
therefore  on  his  patronage  of  more  gifted  men  that  the  larger 
share  of  the  Duke's  literary  reputation  must  depend.  Jonson 
and  Hobbes,  Shirley  and  Shadwell,  Settle  and  Dryden  are 
no  mean  names  to  have  upon  one's  list  of  proteges,  and  they 
inevitably  shed  lustre  upon  their  less  talented  patron.  Per- 
haps now  that  the  facts  regarding  his  relations  with  these  men 
are  better  understood.  Cavendish  will  occupy  a  surer  place  in 
the  world  of  letters.  Not  even  then,  however,  would  one  wish 
to  put  his  rank  as  author  or  patron  so  high  as  his  position  in 
history.  Charles  I's  intimate  friend,  Charles  II's  tutor,  the 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Royalist  army  in  the  north  of 
England,  he  needs  no  doubtful  glamor  borrowed  from  the 
realm  of  literature  to  adorn  his  name ;  Newcastle  has  an 
assured  immortality  as  general,  cavalier,  and  gentleman. 

3M 


CONCLUSION  315 

So,  too,  the  Duchess  is  least  successful  where  she  is  most 
purely  literary,  which  with  her  means  most  purely  imaginative. 
The  more  vague  and  romantic  her  books  are,  the  less  form 
and  substance  they  seem  to  have,  until  their  value  becomes 
directly  proportional  to  their  tangibility.  The  pseudo-science 
must  give  place  to  the  plays,  the  plays  to  the  poems,  the 
poems  to  the  narrative  prose,  just  as  all  her  work  looks  in- 
significant beside  the  Life  of  Newcastle.  There  for  once 
only  Margaret  Cavendish  treated  a  subject  which  kept  her 
continuously  occupied  with  affairs  of  this  world  and  as  a 
result  created  one  lasting  work  of  art.  Yet  even  her  acknow- 
ledged masterpiece  seems  unimportant  compared  with  the  all- 
important  fact  that  she,  a  woman,  in  the  years  between  1649 
and  1668,  wrote  thirteen  books  and  had  them  published  —  at 
that  period  almost  an  unheard-of  feat.  The  magnitude  of  the 
Duchess's  achievement  as  a  pioneer  among  literary  women 
was  never  equalled  by  the  excellence  of  any  individual  work 
which  she  accomplished  or  by  the  specific  influence  which  it 
exerted.  It  makes  no  difference  that  her  fantastic  stories  had 
few  imitators  or  that  the  CCXI  Sociable  Letters  scarcely  affected 
the  development  of  the  letter-novel ;  these  and  the  other  folio 
volumes  bear  witness  to  her  industry  and  initiative.  Her  main 
distinction  is  to  have  been  one  of  the  first  English  authoresses 
and,  more  than  that,  a  woman  of  unusual  characteristics  and 
marked  individuality. 

Nor  is  all  this  to  be  taken  in  a  derogatory  way.  If  the  New- 
castles  are  not  of  supreme  moment  as  producers  of  literature, 
yet  they  themselves  are  individual  and  attractive  personages. 
And,  as  often  happens,  it  is  the  written  word  which  gives 
expression  to  its  author's  personality  and  reveals  his  inner  con- 
sciousness. Indeed,  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle's  writings  prove 
themselves  a  new  method  of  approach  to  an  unexplored  coun- 
try of  the  soul,  for  in  them  the  reader  comes  face  to  face 


3i6  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

with  a  living,  breathing  woman  and  learns  to  know  her  as  she 
is,  without  reserve  and  without  artificiality.  When,  in  addition, 
they  bring  us  to  a  knowledge  of  her  lord  and  master,  no 
further  justification  is  needed  for  the  literary  productions  of 
Margaret  Cavendish.  Whatever  may  be  their  technical  limita- 
tions, they  have  an  indisputable  place  among  those  books 
which  help  us  better  to  understand  and  to  appreciate  the 
puzzling  intricacies  of  human  nature. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 

I.  Works  in  which  William  Cavendish  had  a  Share  (except 
Proclamations,  Dispatches,  and  the  Like) 

I  and  2.  The  Country  Captaine,  And  the  Varietie,  Two  Comedies, 
Written  by  a  Person  of  Honor.  Lately  presented  by  His  Majes- 
ties Servants,  at  the  Black-Fryers.  London,  Printed  for  Hum : 
Robinson  at  the  Three-Pidgeons,  and  Hum:  Moseley  at  the 
Princes  Armes  in  St.  Pauls  Churchyard  1649.  12°. 

This  volume  has  separate  title-pages,  viz. : 

1.  The  Country  Captaine.   A  Comoedye  Lately  Presented  By  his  Majes- 

ties Servants  at  the  Blackfryers.  In  s'Grave  van  Haghe.  Printed  by 
Samuell  Broun  English  Bookseller  at  the  Signe  of  the  English 
Printing  house  in  the  Achter-ome.   Anno  1 649. 

2.  The  Varietie,  A  Comoedy,  Lately  presented  by  his  Majesties  Servants 

at  the  Black-Friers.  London,  Printed  for  Humphrey  Moseley,  and 
are  to  be  sold  at  his  Shop  at  the  Princes  Armes  in  St.  Pauls 
Churchyard  1649. 

3.  La  Mdthode  Nouvelle  et  Invention  extraordinaire  de  dresser  les 
Chevaux  les  travailler  selon  la  Nature  et  parfaire  la  nature  par  la 
subtilte  de  I'art ;  la  quelle  n'a  jamais  6t6  treuve'e  que  Par  Le  tres- 
noble  haut  et  tres-puissant  Prince  Guillaume,  Marquis  et  Comte 
de  Newcastle,  Viconte  de  Mansfield,  Baron  de  Bolsover  et  Ogle, 
Seigneur  de  Cavendish,  Bothal  et  Hepwel  etc.  etc.  Traduit  de 
I'Anglois  de  I'Auteur  en  Francois  par  son  Commandement  A 
Anvers.  Chez  Jacques  van  Meurs  Tan  MDCLVIH.  Folio. 
Seconde  Edition.    Londres,  1737.    Folio. 

An  English  translation  comprises  Volume  I  of  "A  General  Sys- 
tem of  Horsemanship  in  all  it's  Branches :  containing  A  Faithful 
Translation  of  that  most  noble  and  useful  Work  of  his  Grace, 
William  Cavendish,  Duke  of  Newcastle,  Entitied  The  Manner 

317 


31 8  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

of  Feeding,  Dressing  and  Training  of  Horses  for  the  Great 
Saddle,  and  Fitting  them  for  the  Service  of  the  Field  in  Time 
of  War,  or  for  the  Exercise  and  Improvement  of  Gentlemen 
in  the  Academy  at  home :  A  Science  peculiarly  necessary 
throughout  all  Europe  and  which  has  hitherto  been  so  much 
neglected  or  discouraged  in  England,  that  young  Gentlemen 
have  been  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  foreign  Nations  for 
this  Part  of  their  Education.  With  all  the  original  Copper- 
Plates,  in  Number  forty-three  which  were  engrav'd  by  the  best 
Foreign  Masters  under  his  Grace's  immediate  Care  and  Inspec- 
tion, and  which  are  explained  in  the  different  Lessons.  And  to 
give  all  the  Improvements  that  may  be.  This  Work  is  orna- 
mented with  Head-Pieces  and  Initial  Letters,  properly  adapted 
to  the  subsequent  Chapters  and  enlarged  with  an  Index. 
London :  Printed  for  J.  Brindley  Bookseller  to  his  Royal  High- 
ness the  Prince  of  Wales  in  New  Bond  St.  MDCCXLIII." 
Folio.   (This  book  was  also  printed  in  1748.) 

A  manuscript  translation  into  Portuguese  by  Manoel  Zelles  da 
Sylva  is  entitled,  "  Arte  de  Cavallaria  composto  pelo  Duque 
de  Neucastel." 
4.  A  New  Method  and  Extraordinary  Invention  to  dress  Horses  and 
Work  them  according  to  Nature ;  as  also  To  Perfect  Nature  by 
the  Subtilty  of  Art;  which  was  never  found  out,  but  by  The 
Thrice  Noble,  High  and  Puissant  Prince  William  Cavendishe, 
Duke,  Marquess  and  Earl  of  Newcastle ;  Earl  of  Ogle ;  Viscount 
Mansfield ;  and  Baron  of  Bolsover,  of  Ogle,  of  Bertram,  Bothal 
and  Hepple  [etc.  etc.].  London,  Printed  by  Tho.  Milbourn  in 
the  Year  1667.    Folio. 

A  French  translation.  London,  1667.  (No  record  of  this  is  to  be 
found  except  the  statement  of  its  existence  by  M.  de  Solleysel 
in  the  167 1  translation.) 

A  second  French  translation  "  avec  des  Annotations  ou  Supple- 
ments pour  rendre  plus  intelligibles  les  endroits  difficiles.  Par 
Monsieur  De  Solleysel,  ^^cuyer  Sieur  du  Clapier,  &  Tun  des 
Chefs  de  F Academic  Royale,  pres  I'Hotel  de  Conde."    167 1. 

Second  English  edition.    London,  1677.    Folio. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  319 

Des  Welt-beriihmten  Herzog  Wilhelms  von  Newcastle  Neueroff nete 
Reit-Bahn  Welche  erstlich  durch  Ihme  selbsten  erfunden  und 
in  Englischer  Sprache  ans  Licht  gebracht ;  Hernach  Durch 
Herm  von  Solleisel  Konigl.  Franssosischen  Bereiter  aus  dem 
Englischen  ins  Franssosische  versetzt  mit  schonen  Anmerckungen 
und  die  schwereste  Puncten  erlauterenden  Zusatzen  vermehrt 
und  mit  nothwendigen  Kupfem  versehen ;  Anjestzo  aber  Dem 
Hoch-Lobl.  Deutschen  Adel  zu  Ehren,  Nutz  und  Vergniigen 
auf  ersuchen  eines  der  Edlen  Pferd-  und  Reist-Kunst  grossen 
Liebhabers.  Ins  reine  Deutsche  gebracht  von  Dem  Wolgebohmen 
Herm  Johann  Philipp  Ferdinand  Pernauer  Herrn  von  Pemay, 
Freyherm,  Niirnberg.  In  Verlegung  Johann  Ziegers  und  Georg 
Lehmanns  Gedruckt  bey  Johann  Michael  Sporlen.  Im  Jahr 
Christi  1700.    Folio. 

The  original  English  version.    Dublin,  1740.    12°. 

5.  Sir  Martin  Mar-all  or  the  Feigned  Innocence :    A  Comedy  as  it 

was  Acted  at  his  Highnesse  the  Duke  of  York's  Theatre. 
London,  Printed  for  H.  Herringman  at  the  Sign  of  the  Blew 
Anchor  in  the  Lower  Walk  of  the  New  Exchange,  1668.    4°. 

Second  edition,  1669.    4°. 

Third  edition,  1678.    4°. 

Sir  Martin  Marr-all ;  or  The  Feign'd  Innocence.  A  Comedy  As  it 
is  Acted  By  Their  Majesties  Servants.  By  Mr.  Dryden.  London, 
Printed  for  Henry  Herringman,  and  are  to  be  sold  by  Francis 
Saunders,  at  the  Blue  Anchor  in  the  Lower  Walk  of  the  New 
Exchange,  1691.  4°.  In  "The  First  Volume  of  the  Works  of 
Mr.  John  Dryden.  London,  Printed  for  Jacob  Tonson,  at  the 
Sign  of  the  Judge's  Head,  near  the  Inner-Temple-Gate,  in  Fleet 
Street  1695." 

(From  this  time  on  "  Sir  Martin  "  has  been  included  in  all  editions  of 
Dryden's  works.) 

6.  The  Humorous  Lovers.  A  Comedy,  Acted  by  His  Royal  Highness 's 

Servants.  Written  by  His  Grace  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  London, 
Printed  by  J.  M.  for  H.  Herringman,  at  the  Sign  of  the  Blew 
Anchor  in  the  Lower-Walk  of  the  New-Exchang,  1677.    4°. 


320  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

7.  The  Triumphant  Widow,  or  the  Medley  of  Humours.  A  Comedy, 
acted  by  His  Royal  Highness's  Servants.  Written  by  His 
Grace  the  Duke  of  Newcastle.  London,  Printed  by  J.  M. 
for  H.  Herringman,  at  the  Sign  of  the  Blew  Anchor  in  the 
Lower-Walk  of  the  New-Exchang,  1677.   4°.  , 

[8.  The  "  Little  Book,"  which  exists  in  two  manuscript  copies,  one  in  the 
Bodleian  Library  and  one  in  the  possession  of  the  Duke  of  Portland, 
has  been  reprinted  in  "  A  Catalogue  of  Letters  and  Other  Historical 
Documents  preserved  in  the  Library  at  Welbeck.  London,  1903," 
edited  by  Sanford  Arthur  Strong,  pp.  173-236.  In  that  volume  are 
also  some  unprinted  poems  and  songs  by  the  Duke,  pp.  57-60.] 

[9.  "  The  Earl  of  Newcastle's  letter  of  instructions  to  Prince  Charles  for 
his  studies,  conduct  and  behaviour"  is  preserved  with  the  Royal 
Letters  in  the  Harleian  Ms.  6988,  Art.  62.  It  has  been  reprinted  in 
Sir  Henry  Ellis's  "  Original  Letters,  Illustrative  of  English  History," 
Series  I,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  288,  and  in  Professor  C.  H.  Firth's  edition  of 
the  "  Life  of  William  Cavendish,"  1906,  pp.  184-187.] 


II.  Works  by  Margaret  Cavendish 

I.  Poems  and  Fancies :  Written  By  the  Right  Honourable,  the  Lady 
Margaret,  Countesse  of  Newcastle.  London,  Printed  by  T.  R. 
for  J.  Martin  and  J.  Allestrye  at  the  Bell  in  Saint  Pauls  Church 
Yard  1653.    Folio. 

Poems,  and  Phancies  Written  By  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious, 
and  Excellent  Princess  The  Lady  Marchioness  of  Newcastle. 
The  Second  Impression  much  Altered  and  Corrected.  London, 
Printed  by  William  Wilson,  Anno  Dom.  MDCLXIV.   Folio. 

Poems,  or  Several  Fancies  in  Verse :  with  the  Animal  Parliament, 
in  Prose.  Written  by  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious,  and  Excellent 
Princess,  The  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  The  Third  Edition. 
London,  Printed  by  A.  Maxwell,  in  the  Year  1668.    Folio. 

("  Select  Poems  of  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle,  edited  by  Sir  Egerton 
Brydges,  Bart.,  Kent,  181 3.  8°."  Twenty-five  copies  printed  as  a 
specimen  of  the  Lee  Priory  Press,  and  the  first  work  printed  there.) 

(Selected  poems  by  the  Duchess  also  occur  in  "  Poems  by  Eminent 
Ladies,    London,   R.  Baldwin,  I755,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  197-212;    in 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  321 

Alexander  Dyce's  "  Specimens  of  British  Poetesses.  London,  1825," 
pp.  88-98 ;  and  in  George  W.  Bethune's  "  The  British  Female 
Poets:  with  biographical  and  critical  notices,  Philadelphia,  Lindsay 
&  Blakiston,  1848,"  pp.  35-38.) 

2.  Philosophical!  fancies.  Written  by  Rt.  Hon.  the  Lady  Newcastle. 

London,  Printed  by  Tho.  Rycroft  for  J.  Martin  &  J.  Allestrye. 
21  May,  1653.   8°. 

3.  The  World's  Olio.    London,  1655.    Folio. 

The  World's  Olio.  Written  by  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious,  and 
most  Excellent  Princess,  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  The  Second 
Edition.  London,  Printed  by  A.  Maxwell,  in  the  Year  1 67 1.  Folio. 

4.  The  Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions,  Written  by  her  Excel- 

lency, the  Lady  Marchionesse  of  Newcastle.    London,  Printed 
for  J.  Martin  and  J.  Allestrye  at  the  Bell  in  St.  Pauls  Church- 
Yard  1655.    Folio. 
Second  edition.    London,  Printed  by  William  Wilson,  Arnio  Dom. 
MDCLXIII.    FoUo. 

5.  Nature's  Pictures  drawn  by  Fancie's  Pencil  to  the  Life.    Written 

by  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious,  and  Excellent  Princess,  the  Lady 
Marchioness  of  Newcastle.  In  this  Volume  there  are  several 
feigned  Stories  of  Natural  Descriptions,  as  Comical,  Tragical, 
and  Tragi-comical,  Poetical,  Romancical,  Philosophical,  and 
Historical,  both  in  Prose  and  Verse,  some  all  Verse,  some  all 
Prose,  some  mixt,  partly  Prose  and  partly  Verse.  Also  there 
are  some  Morals  and  some  Dialogues;  but  they  are  as  the 
advantage  Loaves  of  Bread  to  Baker's  Dozen ;  and  a  true 
Story  at  the  latter  End,  wherein  there  is  no  feignings.  London, 
Printed  by  J.  Martin  and  J.  Allestrye,  at  the  Bell,  in  Saint  Pauls 
Church  Yard,  1656  (some  copies  1655).  Folio. 
Natures  Picture  Drawn  by  Fancies  Pencil  to  the  Life,  Being 
several  Feigned  Stories,  Comical,  Tragical,  Tragi-comical,  Poeti- 
cal, Romancical,  Philosophical,  Historical,  and  Moral :  Some  in 
Verse,  some  in  Prose;  some  mixt,  and  some  by  Dialogues. 
Written  by  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious,  and  most  Excellent 
Princess,  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  The  Second  Edition. 
London,  Printed  by  A.  Maxwell  in  the  Year  167 1.    Folio. 


322  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

("  The  Experienced  Traveller  "  and  "  The  She  Anchoret "  appeared  in 
"  Poems  on  Several  Subjects,  both  Comical  and  Serious.  In  Two 
Parts,  By  Alexander  Nicol,  Schoolmaster.  To  which  are  added 
The  Experienced  Gentleman,  and  The  She  Anchoret;  Written  in 
Cromwell's  Time  by  the  then  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  Edinburgh. 
Printed  for  the  Author  and  James  Stark  Bookseller  in  Dundee; 
and  sold  by  him  and  the  other  Booksellers  in  town  and  country 
MDCCLXVI."  12°.  The  separate  title-page  reads :"  A  Treasure 
of  Knowledge ;  or  The  Female  Oracle.  Wherein  is  delineated  The 
Experienced  Traveller ;  likewise  the  She  Anchoret ;  in  which  many 
curious  Questions  are  resolved,  put  by  Natural  Philosophers,  Phy- 
sicians, Moral  Philosophers,  Theological  Students,  Preachers,  Judges, 
Tradesmen,  Masters  of  Families,  Married  Men  and  their  Wives, 
Nurses,  Widowers  and  Widows,  Virgins,  Lovers,  Poets  and  Aged 
Persons.    By  the  late  Duchess  of  Newcastle.") 

("  A  True  Relation  of  my  Birth,  Breeding  and  Life,"  which  constituted 
Book  XI  of  the  first  edition  of  "  Nature's  Pictures,"  but  which  did 
not  appear  in  the  second  edition,  was  published  again  as  "  A  True 
Relation  of  the  Birth,  Breeding,  and  Life,  of  Margaret  Cavendish, 
Duchess  of  Newcastle.  Written  by  herself.  With  a  Critical  Preface 
etc.  by  Sir  Egerton  Brydges,  M.  P.  Kent :  Printed  at  the  private- 
Press  of  Lee  Priory:  By  Johnson  and  Warwick.  1814."  This  is 
the  third  publication  in  octavo  printed  at  the  private  press  of  Lee 
Priory,  Kent.  The  impression  is  limited  as  usual  to  one  hundred 
copies.  "  A  True  Relation  "  is  also  the  most  important  reprint  in 
"  The  Cavalier  and  His  Lady.  Selections  from  the  Works  of  the 
First  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  Edited  with  an  introduc- 
tory essay  by  Edward  Jenkins.  London,  Macmillan  and  Co.,  1872." 
Golden  Treasury  Series.) 

6.  Playes.    Written  by  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious  and  Excellent 

Princess,  the  Lady  Marchioness  of  Newcastle.  London,  Printed 
by  A.  Warren  for  John  Martyn,  James  Allestry  and  Tho.  Dicas 
at  the  Bell  in  Saint  Pauls  Church  Yard,  1662.    Folio. 

7.  Orations  of  Divers  Sorts,  Accomodated  to  Divers  Places.  Written 

by  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious  and  Excellent  Princess,  the  Lady 
Marchioness  of  Newcastle.    London,  Printed  Anno  Dom.  1662 
(some  copies  1663).    Folio. 
Second  edition.    London,  Printed  by  A.  Maxwell,  in  the  Year 
1668.    Folio. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  323 

8.  CCXI  Sociable  Letters,  Written  by  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious, 

and  Excellent  Princess,  the  Lady  Marchioness  of  Newcastle. 
London,  Printed  by  William  Wilson,  Anno  Dom.  MDCLXIV. 
Folio. 

9.  Philosophical  Letters :  or  Modest  Reflections  Upon  some  Opinions 

in  Natural  Philosophy,  maintained  by  several  Famous  and 
Learned  Authors  of  this  Age,  Expressed  by  way  of  Letters : 
By  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious  and  Excellent  Princess,  the 
Lady  Marchioness  of  Newcastle.  London,  Printed  in  the  Year 
1664.    Folio. 

10.  Observations  upon  Experimental  Philosophy,  to  which  is  added 

The  Description  of  a  New  Blazing  World.  Written  by  the  Thrice 
Noble,  Illustrious  and  Excellent  Princesse,  the  Duchess  of 
Newcastie.  London,  Printed  by  A.  Maxwell  in  the  Year  1666. 
Folio.  A  separate  title  page  announces  "  The  Description  of  a 
New  World,  caUed  The  Blazing  World." 
Second  edition.   London,  1668.    Folio. 

1 1.  The  Life  of  the  Thrice  Noble,  High  and  Puissant  Prince  William 

Cavendishe,  Duke,  Marquess,  and  Earl  of  Newcastle,  Earl  of 
Ogle;  Viscount  Mansfield;  and  Baron  of  Bolsover,  of  Ogle, 
Bothal  and  Hepple:  Gentleman  of  His  Majesties  Bed-chamber ; 
one  of  His  Majesties  most  Honourable  Privy-Councel ;  Knight 
of  the  most  Noble  Order  of  the  Garter;  His  Majesties  Lieu- 
tenant of  the  County  and  Town  of  Nottingham ;  and  Justice 
in  Ayre  Trent-North:  who  had  the  honour  to  be  Governour 
to  our  most  Glorious  King,  and  Gracious  Sovereign,  in  his 
Youth,  when  He  was  Prince  of  Wales;  and  soon  after  was 
made  Captain  General  of  all  the  Provinces  beyond  the  River 
of  Trent,  and  other  Parts  of  the  Kingdom  of  England,  with 
Power,  by  a  special  Commission,  to  make  Knights.  Written 
by  the  Thrice  Noble,  Illustrious  and  Excellent  Princess,  Mar- 
garet, Duchess  of  Newcastle,  His  Wife.  London,  Printed  by 
A.  Maxwell,  in  the  Year  1667.  Folio. 
De  Vita  et  Rebus  Gestis  Nobilissimi  Illustrissimique  Principis 
Guilielmi  Ducis  Novo-Castrensis  Ab  Excellentissima  Prin- 
cipe, Margareta  Ipsius  Uxore  Sanctissima  Conscripti  Et  Ex 


324  THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 

Anglico  in  Latinum   Conversi.     Londini,   Excudebat  T.  M., 
MDCLXVIII.    Folio. 

Second  English  edition.    London,  1675.    4°- 

The  Lives  of  William  Cavendishe,  Duke  of  Newcastle  and  of  his 
wife  Margaret  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  Written  by  the  Thrice 
Noble  and  Illustrious  Princess,  Margaret,  Duchess  of  Newcastle. 
Edited  with  a  preface  and  occasional  notes  by  Mark  Antony 
Lower, M.  A., etc.  London:  John  Russell  Smith, 36,  Soho  Square. 
1872.    (Library  of  Old  Authors.) 

The  Life  of  William  Cavendish,  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  which  is 
added  The  True  Relation  of  My  Birth  Breeding  and  Life  by 
Margaret,  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  Edited  by  C.  H.  Firth,  M.  A. 
(Editor  of  "  Memoirs  of  the  Life  of  Colonel  Hutchinson "). 
With  four  etched  Portraits.  London,  John  C.  Nimmo,  14, 
King  William  Street,  Strand,  W.  C.  1886.  (300  copies  printed 
for  England,  200  for  America.) 

The  Cavalier  in  Exile.  Being  the  Lives  of  the  First  Duke  and 
Dutchess  of  Newcastle.  Written  by  Margaret  dutchess  of  New- 
castle. London,  George  Newnes,  Ltd.  Southampton  Street, 
Strand,  1903.    (Newnes'  Pocket  Classics.) 

The  Life  of  William  Cavendish  Duke  of  Newcastle  to  which  is 
added  The  True  Relation  of  My  Birth  Breeding  and  Life  by 
Margaret,  Duchess  of  Newcastle.  Edited  by  C.  H.  Firth,  M.  A., 
Regius  Professor  of  Modem  History  in  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford. Second  Edition,  Revised,  with  Additional  Notes.  With 
Twelve  Appendices  and  an  Index.  London,  George  Routledge 
&  Sons,  Limited.  New  York:  E.  P.  Dutton  &  Co.  [1906.] 
(The  London  Library.) 

Margaret,  Duchess  of  Newcastle :  Life  of  the  Duke,  Memoirs  of 
her  own  Life  &  Certain  [i.e.  51]  Sociable  Letters.  Everyman's 
Library.  Edited  by  Ernest  Rhys.  No.  722.  Biography.  London 
&  Toronto :  J.  M.  Dent  &  Sons,  Ltd.  New  York :  E.  P.  Dut- 
ton &  Co.  [November,  1915.] 
12.  Plays,  Never  before  Printed.  Written  By  the  Thrice  Noble, 
Illustrious,  and  Excellent  Princesse,  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle. 
London,  Printed  by  A.  Maxwell  in  the  Year  MDCLXVIII.  Folio. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  325 

13.  Grounds  of  Natural  Philosophy:  Divided  into  Thirteen  Parts: 
with  an  Appendix  containing  Five  Parts.  The  Second  Edition, 
much  altered  from  the  First,  which  went  under  the  Name  of 
Philosophical  and  Physical  Opinions.  Written  by  the  Thrice 
Noble,  Illustrious,  and  Excellent  Princess,  the  Duchess  of 
Newcastle.  London,  Printed  by  A.  Maxwell  in  the  Year 
1668.   FoUo. 


INDEX 


Addison,  Joseph,  71  note.    Spectator^ 

The,  71  note 
Airy,  Osmund,  Charles  II,  19  note,  134 

note 
Albrecht,   L.,  Dry  den's  ^^  Sir  Martin 

Mar-all,''  151  note 
Anglia,  84  note 
Argyle,  Earl  of,  53,  54 
Aristophanes,  113.    Clouds,  The,  113 
Ascham,  Roger,  170 
Ash,  Mr.,  62,  63 

Ashmole,  EHas,  259  note,  260  note 
Ashmolean   Catalogue,  259   note,  260 

note 
Aubrey,  John,  120,   124,   127.    Brief 

Lives,  120  note,  124  note,  127  note 
Aylesbury,  William,  51 

Bacon,  Francis,  Lord,  188  note,  246. 

Novum  Organum,  188  note.    Works, 

188  note 
Bag  ford  Ballads,  The,  160,  260  note 
Baillie  Letters,  36  note 
Baillon,  Conte  de,  Lettres  inidites  de 

Henriette- Marie,  28  note 
Ballard,  George,  Memoirs  of  British 

Ladies,  46  note,  70  note,  287  note 
Banks,    Sir    Thomas,    Dormant   and 

Extinct   Baronage   of  England,    12 

note,  13  note 
Barlow,  Thomas,  259 
Basset,  William,  11 
Behn,  Mrs.  Aphra,  172 
Bellasis,  Colonel  John,  33,  34,  82 
Bethune,  George  W.,  British  Female 

Poets,  The,  321 
Beynhara,  Mrs.,  50 
Bickley,  Francis,  236.  Cavendish  Fam- 
ily, The,  236  note 
Birch,  Thomas,  History  of  the  Royal 

Society,  The^  304  notes 
Birkenhead,  John,  126,  127.     Editor 

oi  Mercurius  Aulicus,  126-127 
Blackbume,  Richard,  123.   Vitce  Hob- 

biance  auctarium,  123  note 


Blundeville,  Mr.,  138 

Boccaccio,  Giovanni,  Decameron,  204 

Bohemia,  Queen  of,  45 

Boswell,  James,  80 

Boucheret,  Matthew,  98  note 

Brackley,  Elizabeth  (nee  Cavendish), 
Countess  of  Bridgwater,  77,  121 

Brackley,  John,  Earl  of  Bridgwater, 
77,  121 

Bramhall,  John,  Bishop  of  London- 
derry, 122,  123.  Castigations  of 
Mr.  Hobbes,  12-},.  Catching  of  Levi- 
athan, The,  123.  Defence  of  True 
Liberty,  A,  123,  Works,  122  notes, 
123  notes 

Brandenburg,  Elector  of,  54 

Brindley,  John,  136,  318 

Bristol,  Earl  of,  64 

Bristow,  James,  198 

Brome,  Richard,  104,  11 6-1 19,  165, 
167.  Court  Beggar,  The,  104.  Cov- 
ent  Garden  Weeded,  The,  116.  North- 
em  Lass,  The,  117.  Sparagus  Gar- 
den^ The^  117,  165.  Works.,  104 
note,  117  note 

Brooke,  Ralph,  221.  Discoverie  of  Cer- 
taine  Errours,  A,  221 

Brooks,  Mr.,  267  note 

Broun,  Samuell,  112  note,  317 

Brown,  F.  C,  Elkanah  Settle,  His  Life 
and  Works,  162  notes 

Browne,  Sir  Richard,  48,  50  note, 
298 

Brydges,  Sir  Egerton,  266,  266  note, 
291,  291  note.  Editor  of  Selected 
Poems  of  the  Duchess  of  Newcastle, 
266  note,  320.  Editor  of  True  Re- 
lation, A,  291  note,  322 

Bullen,  A.  H.,  102-105,  108.  Collec- 
tion of  Old  English  Plays,  A,  102, 
102  note,  104-107  notes,  109  notes 

Burghclere,  Lady,  George  Villiers,  76 
note 

Butler,  Samuel,  78.  Hudibras,  78 
note 


327 


328 


THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 


Caesar,  Julius,  79,  153,  247,  310 

Calendar  of  Clarendon  State  Papers,  i^\ 
note,  53-55  notes,  57  note,  136  note, 
184  note 

Calendar  of  the  Proceedings  of  the  Com- 
mittee for  Compounding,  56  note 

Calendar  of  State  Papers,  15  note,  41 
note,  57  note,  60  note 

Cambridge  History  of  English  Litera- 
ture, The,  135  note,  181  note,  182 
note,  290  note,  311  note,  312  note 

Caraby,  Captain,  39 

Camden,  William,  220-222,  221  note. 
Britannia,  220,  221,  221  notes,  222 
note 

Caracena,  Marquis  of,  59 

Carlyle,  Thomas,  Letters  and  Speeches 
of  Oliver  Cromwell,  33  note 

Carte,  Thomas,  Collection  of  Original 
Letters,  A,  53  note 

Cartwright,  William,  112 

Castle  Rodrigo,  Marquis  of,  45 

Catalogue  of  the  British  Museum,  186 
note,  258  note 

Catalogue  of  the  TTiomason  Tracts,  26 
note 

Cavalier  in  Exile,  The,  5  note,  324 

Cavendish,  Catharine  (nee  Ogle), 
(Newcastle's  mother),  7,  11,  68,  77, 
88 

Cavendish,  Charles,  Lord  Mansfield 
(Newcastle's  elder  son),  45,  52,  66, 
77,  79,  88,  100 

Cavendish,  Sir  Charles  (Newcastle's 
father),  7-ii»77 

Cavendish,  Sir  Charles  (Newcastle's 
brother),  8,  54-58,  66,  77,  86,  124, 
174,  182,  199,  199  note 

Cavendish,  Christian,  Countess  of 
Devon,  100 

Cavendish,  Elizabeth  (n^e  Basset), 
Countess  of  Newcastle  (Newcastle's 
first  wife),  11,  68,  77 

Cavendish,  Elizabeth  (n6e  Hardwick), 
afterwards  Elizabeth  Talbot  (New- 
castle's grandmother),  68,  77,  100, 
221  note 

Cavendish,  Grace  (n^e  Talbot)  (New- 
castle's aunt),  8  note,  77 

Cavendish,  Henry  (Newcastle's uncle), 
8  note,  77 

Cavendish,  Henry,  Earl  of  Ogle  (New- 
castle's younger  son),  45,  52,  62,  66, 
70,  77,  291-293 


Cavendish,  Henry,  Lord  Mansfield 
(Newcastle's  grandson),  291,  292 

Cavendish,  Margaret  (nee  Lucas), 
Duchess  of  Newcastle  (Newcastle's 
second  wife),  1-7,  11,  12  note,  13, 
14,  17,  18,  20,  21,  22  note,  23-25, 
27-30.  32-34»  36,  37,  39»  46-49.  52 
note,  53-55,  57,  58,  61-63,  65,  67, 
68,  70-85,  92,  100,  114,  124-127, 
134,  137,  141,  142,  144,  145,  154, 
155. 158, 159. 168, 171, 172,  i73note, 
174-184,  181-182  notes,  186-200, 
187-189  notes,  198-199  notes,  202, 
204,  203-204  notes,  206-220,  220- 
221  notes,  222-225,  227-268,  227 
note,  251  note,  259  note,  266  note, 
270-288,  283-284  notes,  290-307, 
290  note,  294-295  notes,  309  note, 
310-316,  320-325.  Blazing  World, 
The,  209  note,  237,  252,  252  note, 
258,  265,  323.  Grounds  of  Natural 
Philosophy,  193,  325.  Life  of  Wil- 
liam Cavendishe,  The^  1-3,  5, 7  note, 
28,  32,  44,  56,  65,  71,  80-82,  84,  99 
note,  125,  169,  171,  184,  227,  249 
note,  252,  255  note,  258,  259,  265, 
266,  283,  312,  315,  323.  Nature's 
Pictures,  Z\  note,  198,  203,  206,  209, 
211,  213,  228  note,  266,  273  note, 
310  note,  321,  322.  Observations 
upon  Experimental  Philosophy,  127 
note,  196,  252,  259,  323.  Orations 
of  Divers  Sorts,  233,  236,  237,  245, 
312,  322.  Philosophical  and  Physi- 
cal Opinions,  98  note,  125  note,  179 
note,  185  note,  186,  187,  188-189 
notes,  189,  191,  193,  195,  196,  199 
note,  202  note,  226  note,  245,  321. 
Philosophical  Fancies,  172,  186,  268 
note,32i.  Ph ilosoph ical Letters,  127 
note,  195-197,  197  note,  250,  323. 
Playes  (158-159  notes,  214,  213- 
214  notes,  259,  322):  Apocryphal 
Ladies,  The,  215,  216,  226;  Bell  in 
Campo,  225,  226;  Comedy  of  the 
Several  Wits,  The,  218;  Comical 
Hash,  The,  225 ;  Female  Academy^ 
7X^,226;  Lady  Contemplation,  The, 
158,  218,  263  note;  Love's  Adven- 
tures, 217 ;  Matrimonial  Trouble, 
The,  222 ;  Nature's  Three  Daugh- 
ters, 223  ;  Publick  Wooing,  The,  159 
note,  222  ;  Religious,  The,  224  ;  Un- 
natural  Tragedy,    The,    220,   222; 


INDEX 


329 


mts  Cabal,  TTie,  219;  Youths  Glory 
and  Deaths  Banquet,  218.  Plays, 
Never  Before  Printed  (227,  228  note, 
324):  Bridals,  The,  2^0;  Convent  of 
Pleasure,  The,  230,  232;  Piece  of  a 
Play,  A,  232 ;  Presence,  The,  229, 
229  note;  Scenes,  zzg;  Sociable  Com- 
panions, The, 22S.  Poems  and  Fancies, 
47.  173.  173  note,  179,  184  note, 
185-187,  188  note,  197  note,  263 
note,  312,  320.  True  Relation  of  my 
Birth,  Breeding  and  Life,  A,  3,  47 
note,  51  note,  55  note,  57  note,  172 
note,  186  note,  203,  266,  285,  307, 
310  note,  322.  CCXI  Sociable  Let- 
ters, 92,  173  note,  184-185  notes, 
236  note,  237,  243,  251,  255,  270 
note,  283  note,  288,  288  note,  315, 
323.  World's  Olio,  The,  172,  185, 
195,  198,  199 

Cavendish,  Sir  William  (Newcastle's 
grandfather),  7,  8,  77 

Cavendish,  William,  Earl  of  Devon- 
shire, 95,  100,  259 

Cavendish,  William,  Duke  of  New- 
castle, 2, 4-42, 44, 45, 48-92,  54  note, 
94-103,  105-108,  110-113,  1 16-146, 
122  note,  134-136  notes,  149-171, 
182-184,  184-185  notes,  188,  189 
note,  192,  199  note,  204  note,  205, 
212,  213,  217-219,  223,  228,  230, 
233.  235,  238,  241,  245,  248,  249, 
255-257. 259,  260, 266,  270, 273-283, 
288,  288  note,  290,  290  note,  291- 
293, 295, 295  note,  296, 298, 298  note, 
299. 31O'  312-315, 317-320,323, 324. 
Country  Captain,  The,  102-108,  103 
notes,  106  notes,  107  note,  110-114, 
317.  Exile,  The,  145.  Heyresse,  The, 
145.  Humorous  Lovers,  The,  145, 
150,  156  note,  295,  319.  "Little 
Book,"  The,  128, 134,  134  note,  169, 
235,  314,  320.  MSthode  Nouvelle, 
La,  136,  139,  317.  New  Method  and 
Extraordinary  Invention,  A,  52  note, 
53  note,  59  note,  318.  Triumphant 
Widow,  T^S^r,  156-160, 1 57  notes,  162, 
163,  165,  167,  320.  Upon  Giving 
Mee  The  iMte  Kinges  Picture,  134. 
Variety,  The,  1 12- 117,  114  notes, 
149,  168,  317 

Charles  I,  King,  8,  11,  13-19,  21-24, 
27,  28,  31,  33,  35,  37-44,  47.  51.  53. 
64.  73.  76  note,  86,  87,  92,  93,  109, 


119,  121,  149,  177,  247,  288  note, 
3M 

Charles  II,  King,  14,  18,  20-22,  49, 
50.  53.  55.  58.  60-65,  69,  70,  73, 
78,  83,  84,  98,  115,  118,  119,  122 
note,  127,  129-132,  134,  134  note, 
137,  142,  169,  255,  288  note,  290, 
293.  296,  302,  306,  311,  314,  320, 
323 

Charleton,  Walter,  5,  7  note,  259, 
304 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey,  93  note,  129,  220. 
Canterbury  Tales,  The,  204 

Chesterfield,  Lord,  170 

Cholmley,  Sir  Hugh,  27,  42,  45  note, 
81.  Memoirs,  42  note.  Memorials 
of  the  Battle  of  York,  37  note 

Cibber,  Theophilus,  Lives  of  the  Poets, 
The,  48  note,  286  note 

Cock  Laurel,  168 

Cokayne,  G.  E.,  46,  46  note.  Complete 
Peerage,  7,  14  note 

Coke,  Sir  John,  17  note 

Colbert,  Jean,  129 

Collection  of  Letters  and  Poems  to  the 
late  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Newcastle, 
258  note 

Collections  and  Notes.  Wither  to  Prior 
(GroUer  Club),  173  note 

Collins,  Arthur,  7.  Historical  Collec- 
tions, 7,  12  note,  53  note 

Con,  George,  43  note 

Congreve,  William,  146.  Double 
Dealer,  The,  290  note.  Ijive  for 
Love,  146 

Connoisseur,  The,  177 

Constable,  John,  41 

Constable,  Sir  Henry,  Viscount  Dun- 
bar, 41 

Cosin,  Dr.,  Dean  of  Peterborough,  23, 
282,  282  note 

Costello,  Louisa,  S.,  258  note,  307. 
Memoirs  of  Eminent  Englishwomen, 
258  note,  307  note 

Cottington,  Francis,  Lord,  14 

Cottrell,  Sir  Charles,  60 

Cox,  Nicholas,  Getitleman^s  Pecreation, 
The,  140,  140  note 

Cox,  Robert,  116  note 

Crofts,  Lord,  49 

Cromwell,  Oliver,  38,  39,  142 

Crowne,  John,  162 

Crull,  Joducus,  Antiquities  ofSt.Petet's, 
The,  71  note 


330 


THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 


Davenant,  Sir  William,  23,  120,  120 
note,  121,  167,  246.  Gondibert,  2^6. 
Upon  the  Marriage  of  the  Lady  Jane 
Cavendish^  121.    Works ^  121  note 

Davenport,  Robert,  119,  119  note 

Defoe,  Daniel,  Memoirs  of  a  Cavalier^ 
31  note,  37  note 

Descartes,  Rene,  124,  125,  127,  136, 
167,  195 

De  SoUeysel,  139,  140,  318.  Le  Par- 
fait  MareschaJ,  140 

Dictionary  of  National  Biography ,  The, 
7,  46  note,  54  note,  99  note,  100 
note,  116  note,  119  note,  120  note, 
140  note,  141  note,  172  note,  203 
note,  233  note,  288  note 

Diepenbeck,  Abraham,  99,  137,  173 
note 

Digby,  Kenelm,  259 

D'Israeli,  Isaac,  178  note.  Curiosities 
of  Literature,  178  note 

Donne,  John,  182,  263.  Storm,  The, 
263  note 

Downes,  John,  150,  151.  Roscius  An- 
glicanus,  150,  151  note 

Doyle,  J.  E.,  Official  Baronage  of  Eng- 
land, The,  53  note 

Drake,  Francis,  Eboracum,  25,  26 note, 
36  note 

Drayton,  Michael,  181  note.  Nym- 
phidia^   181  note 

Drunken  Lover,  TTie,  160 

Dryden,  John,  85,  144,  150-152,  150 
note,  152  note,  154,  162,  167,  220 
note,  314, 319.  Absalom  and  Achito- 
phel,  163  note.  Assignation,  The, 
162.  Evening* s Love,  An,  152.  Fables, 
220  note.  Mac-Flecknoe,  154  note. 
Notes  and  Observations  on  the  Em- 
press of  Morocco,  162.  Sir  Martin 
Mar-all,  150-152,  314,  319.  Vindi- 
cation of  the  Duke  of  Guise,  A,  154 
note 

Duarti,  Eleanora,  250 

Duarti,  Frances,  250  note 

Duarti,  Katherine,  250  note 

Duarti,  Mr.,  249,  250 

Du  Verger,  S.,  199  note.  Humble  Re- 
flections, 199  note 

Dyce,  Alexander,  102.  Specimens  of 
the  British  Poetesses,  173  note,  321 

East  Friesland,  Prince  of,  58 
Egglesfield,  Francis,  108,  109,  11 1 


Elizabeth,  Queen,  132,  201 

Ellis,  Clement,  65  note 

Ellis,  Sir  Henry,  Original  Letters,  17 

note,  20  note,  24-25  notes,  40  note, 

118  note,  320 
English  Historical  Review,  32  note,  37 

note 
Etherege,  Sir  George,  260,  302 
Evelyn,  John,  70,  298-300, 305.  Diary, 

ed.  Wheatley,  48  note,  50  note,  206 

note,  258  note,  300  notes 
Evelyn,  Mistress,  299 

Fairfax,  Lady  Anne,  29 

Fairfax,  Fernando,  Lord,  24,  25,  28, 
34,  35,  81 

Fairfax,  Sir  Thomas,  26,  28,  29,  34 

Fane,  Francis,  261 

Firth,  C.  H.,  i,  2,  5,  32,  54,  57  note, 
78,  82,  108,  126,  158,  266.  Editor 
of  Life  of  William  Cavendishe,  The, 
7  notes,  10  note,  21-22  notes,  24- 
26  notes,  28  note,  32-33  notes,  37 
note,  41  note,  45  note,  51  note,  58 
note,  60  note,  64-65  notes,  82  note, 
99  note,  1 1 4  note,  118  note,  120  note, 
126-127  notes,  136  note,  158  note, 
174  note,  184  note,  233  note,  249 
note,  255  note,  267-274  notes,  285 
notes,  287-288  notes,  291  notes,  297 
notes,    303    note,    307    note,    320, 

324 

Fleay,  F.  G.,  107.  Chronicle  of  the 
English  Drama,  A,  107  note 

Flecknoe,  Richard,  141-144,  142  note, 
154,  260.  Birthday,  TJie,  142.  Col- 
lectiofi  of  Choicest  Epigrams,  A,  144. 
Damoiselles  h  la  Mode,  143.  Dis- 
course of  the  English  Stage,  A,  142. 
Enigmaticall  Characters^  141.  Epi- 
grams of  all  Sorts ,  143, 1 42-1 43  notes. 
Euterpe  Revived,  144.  Farrago  of 
Several  Pieces,  A,  142,  143.  Heroick 
Portraits,  142.  Love's  Dominion, 
142  note.  Love's  Kingdom,  142.  Of 
Welbeck,  142.  On  the  Death  of  the 
Lady  fean  Cheney,  144.  On  the 
Dtctchess  of  Nrivcastles  Closset,  142. 
Relation  of  Ten  Years^  Travels,  A, 
141.    To  f anus,  142 

Fletcher,  John,  164,  184 

Ford,  John,  94, 95, 100, 167.  Chronicle 
Historic  of  Perkin  Warbeck,  The,^/^. 
Works,  94  note 


INDEX 


331 


Forsythe.  R.  vS.,   104,   105,  107-109, 
III,    112,    114  note.     Relations   of 
Shirley's  Plays,   77ie,    104,  104-105 
notes,  109-1 10  notes,  114  note 
Fortnightly  Review,  The,  107  note 
French  Dancing  Master,  The,  1 1 5 

Gardiner,  S.  R.,  32,  36.  History  of 
England,  1603-1642,  22  note,  43 
note.  History  of  the  Great  Civil  War, 
27  note,  32  note 

Gassendi,  Pierre,  124,  167 

General  System  of  Horsemanship,  A, 
136,  317-318 

Geoffrey  of  Monmouth,  215 

Gifford,  William,  87 

Glanvill,  Joseph,  259,  259  note.  Letters 
and  Poems  to  Margaret,  Duchess  of 
Newcastle,  259  note 

Gloucester,  Duke  of,  60 

Goldsmith,  Oliver,  255.  Citizen  of  the 
World,  The,  255 

Goring,  General  George,  26-28,  36, 
82 

Gosse,  Edmund,  107, 113  note.  Editor 
of  Shirley's  Selected  Plays  (Mermaid 
Series),  107  note,  113  note.  Seven- 
teenth-Century Studies^  294  note 

Goulding,  R.  W.,  8  note,  275,  275  note, 
278  note,  288  note.  Editor  of  Let- 
ters Written  by  Charles  Lam.b's 
"^ Princely  Woman,''  275,  288  note, 
292  note 

Green,  Mrs.  Mary  Anne,  Editor  of 
Letters  of  Henrietta  Maria,  23  note, 
26-28  notes,  30-31  notes,  40  note, 
120  note 

Grison,  Frederic,  138 

Guise,  Duke  of,  52 

Halliwell-Phillipps,  J.  O.,  102.  Collec- 
tion of  Letters,  A,  124  note.  Diction- 
ary of  Old  English  Plays,  A,  102 

Hamilton,  Anthony,  301,  303.  Mem- 
oirs of  Count  Grammont,  301,  301 
note 

Hamilton,  Duke  of,  33,  53,  54 

Harington,  Sir  John,  182  note 

Harmar,  John,  198  note 

Hatton,  Christopher,  296.  Hatton 
Correspondence  (Camden  Society), 
296  note 

Hazlitt,  W.  C,  Collections  and  Notes, 
199  note.     Handbook   to   Popular^ 


Poetical  and  Dramatic  Literature,  5 
note 

Heath,  James,  Brief  Chronicle,  A,  38 
note,  40  note 

Henrietta  Maria,  Queen,  3,  18,  20-23, 
26  note,  27,  28,  31,  40  note,  43,  45- 
50,81,92,93, 119, 120, 172,  192,  272, 
273.  275,  276,  278,  279,  281,  282 

Henry  VIII,  King,  133  note 

Herbert,  Lord,  of  Cherbury,  97  note 

Herbert,  William,  Earl  of  Pembroke, 
170.    De  Veritate,  97  note 

Herrick,  Robert,  174,  181.  Hesperides, 
The,  174,  181  notes 

Hesse,  Landgrave  of,  58 

Historical  Manuscripts'  Commission 
Reports,  13-14  notes,  17  note,  21- 
22  notes,  55  notes,  64  note,  68-70 
notes,  173  note,  261  note,  278  note, 
296  notes,  298  note,  304  note.  Wel- 
beck  Manuscripts, ^note,  i  i-i2notes, 
14  note,  18  note,  22  note,  27  note, 
30  note,  33  note,  48  note,  54-55 
notes,  66  note,  69  note,  7 1  note,  95- 
99  notes,  119  note,  278  note,  282 
note,  291-292  notes 

Hobbes,  Thomas,  73,  85,  95,  96,  98, 
99,  122-126,  122  note,  128-132, 128 
note,  134,  166,  187  note,  192,  195, 
230, 237, 2 59, 3 1 4.  Decameron  Physi- 
ologicum,  187  note.  De  Corpore,  187 
note.  De  Homine,  124.  Elements 
of  Law,  Natural  and  Politique,  99. 
Elements  of  Philosophy,  195.  Eng- 
lish Works,  122-124  notes,  126  note. 
Latin  Works,  123  note,  187  note. 
Leviathan,  1 26, 1 95.  Minute  or  First 
Draught  of  the  Optiques,  A,  1 24.  On 
Lllumination,  124.  On  Vision,  124. 
Questions  Concerning  Liberty,  Neces- 
sity and  Chance,  The,  123 

Holland,  Earl  of,  16,  21 

Horace,  168.  Ars  Poetica,  168  note 

Hotham,  Captain,  John,  22,  27,  30, 81 

Hotham,  Sir  John,  27,  81 

Howard,  Henry,  11,  68 

Howell,  James,  Epistolce  Ho-Eliana, 
251 

Humours  of  Monsieur  Gatllard,  The, 
116 

Hunt,  Leigh,  178  note.  Men,  Women, 
and  Books,  1 78  note 

Huntington,  Henry  E.,  173  note,  179 
note,  233  note 


332 


THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 


Hutchinson,  Colonel,  33,  64,  70,  81, 
84 

Hutchinson,  Mrs.  Lucy,  83.  Memoirs 
of  Colonel  Hutchinson,  21  note,  23 
note,  33  notes,  55  note,  65  note,  70 
note,  83,  318 

Huth,  F.  N.,  Works  on  Horses  and 
Equitation,  135  note 

Hyde,  Edward,  Earl  of  Clarendon, 
20, 24, 37, 42,  54,  58, 81, 92, 127  note, 
135,  184  note.  History  of  the  Rebel- 
lion, 20  note,  22  note,  25-26  notes, 
32  note,  36  note,  42  note,  50  note, 
58  note,  92  note.  Life  of  Clarendon 
by  himself  58  note.  State  Papers,  18 
note,  27  note 

Irving,  Washington,  7 1 .  Sketch  Book, 
The,  71.    Works,  71  note 

James  I,  King,  10,  11,  44,  46,  87,  267 
note 

Jenkins,  Edward,  237  note,  262  note. 
Editor  of  The  Cavalier  and  his  Lady , 
191  note,  237  note,  262  note,  266, 
303  note,  322 

Jermyn,  Henry,  Lord,  22,  277 

John,  Don,  of  Austria,  53  note,  59 

Johnson,  Samuel,  152  note,  170.  Lives 
of  the  Poets,  152  note,  179  note 

Jones,  Inigo,  90,  93 

Jonson,  Ben,  14,  18,  85-88,90-94, 103, 
105, 113, 114,  I49»  164, 166-168, 184, 
220,  262,  314.  Cynthia's  Revels,  113. 
Devil  is  an  Ass,  The,  104,  113. 
Every  Man  in  his  Humour,  104. 
Love's  Welcome  at  Bolsover,  18. 
Love's  Welcome  at  Welbeck,  92.  Mag- 
netic Lady,  The,  93  note.  New  Inn, 
The,  90,  93  note.  Silent  Woman, 
The,  113,  262.  Staple  of  News,  The, 
113.  Triumph  of  Charis,  The,  114 
note.  Underwoods, ?><).  Volpone,  ii^f 
Works,  86-94  notes 

Jusserand,  J.  J.,  251,  286  note.  English 
Novel  in  the  Time  of  Shakespeare, 
The,  251  note,  286  note 

Kenny,  James,  251  note 

Kerr,  Mina,  Influence  of  Ben  fonson 

on  English  Comedy,  The,  104  note, 

113  note 
Killigrew,  Thomas,  115 
King,  General  James,  Lord  Ethyn, 


25,  26,  29,  30,  34  note,  35,  37,  43,  45, 
82 

Kingston,  Earl  of,  29,  82 

Kipling,  Rudyard,  210  note.  Man  Who 
Would  Be  King,  The,  210  note 

Kippis,  Andrew,  178  note.  Editor  of 
Biographia  Britannica,  12  note, 
178  note,  259  note 

Kirkman,  Francis,  116  note.  Wits, 
The,  116 

Koeppel,  Emil,  104, 107.  Benfonson's 
Wirkung,  104  note,  107  note.  Shake- 
speare''s  Wirkung,  107  note 

Lamb,  Charles  ("Elia"),  i,  3,  6,  203 
note,  251,312.  Essays  ofElia,  7  note, 
203  note,  251  note,  312  note 

Laney,  Benjamin,  Bishop  of  Ely,  123 

Langbaine,  Gerard,  6,  85,  140,  142, 
150,  156,  169,  214  note.  English 
Dramatick  Poets,  The,  6,  85  note, 
1 16  note,  140  note,  2 14  note.  Hunter^ 
The,  140 

Lawes,  Henry,  57 

Legg,  Colonel  William,  22,  69 

Leicester,  Earl  of,  113,  170 

Leigh,  Joseph,  112 

Lely,  Sir  Peter,  166 

Letters  and  Poems  in  Honour  of  the 
Dutchess  of  Newcastle,  6  note,  8  note, 
198  note,  249  note,  258 

Letters  of  Eloisa  and  Abe  lard,  251 

Lichfield,  Leonard,  140 

Lilly,  William,  History  of  his  Life  and 
Times,  39  note 

Locke,  John,  166 

Locrine,  216 

Lodge,  Edmund,  Portraits  of  Illustri- 
ous Personages,  13  note 

Lohr,  Anton,  142  notes 

Long,  Robert,  54 

Longueville,  Thomas,  12  note.  Pirst 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  Newcastle,  The, 
12-13  notes,  26-27  notes,  32  note, 
35  note,  69  notes,  74  note,  274  note 

Lort,  Dr.,  287 

Lower,  M.  A.,  5  note,  265  note,  266, 
270  note.  Editor  of  Life  of  William 
Cavendishe,  The,  265  note,  324 

Lucas,  Ann,  250 

Lucas,  Sir  Charles,  36,  206  note 

Lucas,  Madam  Elizabeth,  48,  267 

Lucas,  John,  Lord,  48,  56,  71 

Lyttleton,  Sir  Charles,  296 


INDEX 


333 


Mackworth,  Sir  Francis,  28 

Madan,  Falconer,  Summary  Catalogue 
of  the  Western  Mss.,  A,  127  note 

Maecenas,  2,  85,  155,  167,  169,  170 

Malone,  Edmund,  Editor  of  Shake- 
speare's Worksy  115  note 

Jif alone  Society  Collections,  1 10  note, 
116 

Markham,  Sir  C.  R.,  Life  of  Lord  Fair- 
fax, 36  note 

Markham,  Gervase,  135  note.  Cavel- 
arice,  135  note.  Discourse  of  Horse- 
manshippe,  ^,135  note 

Marvell,  Andrew,  185  note.  Last  In- 
structions to  a  Painter,  185  note. 
Satires,  185  note 

Masson,  David,  Life  of  fohn  Milton, 
The,  90  note 

Mayeme,  Sir  Theodore,  288 

Mayne,  Jasper,  198,  198  note,  259 

Mazarin,  Captain,  137 

Milton,  John,  177,  178,  178  note,  215. 
Comus,  121,  215.  II  Penseroso,  178. 
V Allegro,  178 

Moli^re,  150.  Le  Bourgeois  Gentil- 
homme,  116  note.  VEtourdi,  151. 
CEuvres,  1 1 6  note 

Montegut,  fimile,  92,  93  note,  128, 
182  note,  268,  268  note,  274  note, 
294.  MarSchal  Davout,  Le,  92  note. 
Duchesse  et  le  Due  de  Newcastle,  La, 
43  note,  92  note,  182  note,  191  note, 
268  note,  274  note,  294  note,  309 
note 

Montesquieu,  Charles,  255.  Lettres 
Persanes,  255 

Montrose,  Earl  of,  34,  40,  8 1 

More,  Dr.,  195.  Antidote,  195.  Of  the 
Immortality  of  the  Soul,  195 

Moseley,  Humphrey,  112,  112  note, 
317 

Moundeford,  Sir  Edmond,  14  note 

Nason,  A.  1^.,  fames  Shirley,  loi  note, 

107  note,  1 10  note 
Nethersole,  Sir  Francis,  12 
Neuberg,  Duke  of,  54 
Newport,  Earl  of,  25,  26,  82 
Nicholas,  Sir  Edward,  7,  40,  41  note, 

60,136 
Nichols,  John,  171  note.    Progresses  of 

fames  the  First,  The,  1 1  note.  Select 

Collection  of  Poems,  A,  lyi  note 
Nicol,  Alexander,  Poems  on  Several 


Subjects,    211,    322.      Trecuure    of 
Knowledge,  A,  211,  322 

Ogle,  Cuthbert,  Lord,  7,  68 
Oldenburg,  Duke  of,  58 
Orange,  Prince  of,  45 
Ovid,  247,  310 

Pearson,  John,  Bishop  of  Chester,  259 

note 
Pepys,  Samuel,  6,  70,  108,  112,  115, 

145,   150,    151,   270,  295-298,   29s 

note,  301,  303,  305,  312.  Diary,  ed. 

Wheatley,  270  note,  296  note 
Pemauer,  J.  P.  F.,  140,  319 
Petty,  Sir  William,  122  note 
Philips,  Mrs.    Katherine   ("Orinda"), 

172,   172  note,  270,  293-295,  310. 

Poems,  270  note,  293  note.    To  my 

Lady  M.  Cavendish,  293 
Piccolomini,  Count,  46 
Plutarch,  244 

Poems  by  Eminent  Ladies,  320 
Poems  on  Affairs  of  State,  168  note 
Pope,  Alexander,  262,  286  note.  Dun- 

ciad,  The,  262  note 
Porter,  Endymion,  51,  277 
Portland,  Duke  of,  127,  320 
Potage,  Jaen,  249 
Pranks  of  Puck,  The,  90  note 
Pugliano,  J.  P.,  90  note 
Pye,    Lady   Catherine    (nee    Lucas), 

250,  250  note,  273 
Pye,  Sir  Edmund,  250  note 

Quinault,  Philippe,  VAmant  Indiscret, 
151 

Raleigh,  Sir  Walter,  139 

Reresby,  Sir  John,  70,  296  note.  Mem- 
oirs, 58  note,  70  note,  296  note 

Retrospective  Review,  The,  47  note, 
263  note 

Rhys,  Ernest,  178  note,  204  note,  206 
note.  Editor  of  Life  of  William 
Cavendishe,  The  (Everyman's  Li- 
brary), 178  note,  187  note,  204  note, 
206  note,  299  notes,  324 

Richardson,  Jonathan,  74 

Richardson,  Samuel,  251,  255 

Richardson,  Thomas,  287 

Robertson,  G.  C,  Hobbes,  124  note 

Rochester,  Earl  of,  156  note,  168.  An 
Allusion  to  the  Tenth  Satire  of  the 
First  Book  of  Horace,  156  note 


334 


THE  FIRST  DUCHESS  OF  NEWCASTLE 


Rolfe,  W.  J.,  i8i  note 

Rolleston,  John,  6,  8i,  227,  287,  291 

note 
Rupert,  Prince,  30,  36-40,  42,  44 
Rushworth,  John,  20,  82.    Historical 

Collections^  20  note,  24  note,  26  note, 

28  note,  32  note,  34-36  notes,  121 

note 

St.  Loo,  Sir  William,  68,  'j'j 

Sampson,  William,  99,  100,  99-100 
notes.  Love's  Metamorphosis^  100. 
Virtus  post  Funera  vivit,  99 

Sanford,  J.  L.,  Studies  and  Illustra- 
tions^ yj  note 

Saville,  Sir  William,  26 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  3,  227  note,  301, 
303.  Peveril  of  the  Peak,  227  note, 
301,  301  note 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  and  Saintsbury, 
George,  1 50  note.  Editors  of  Dry- 
den's  Works,  152  note,  154  notes 

Selden,  John,  128-129  notes.  Table- 
Talkf  128-129  notes,  132,  132  note 

Session  of  the  Poets,  The,  168 

Settle,  Elkanah,  162,  163,  165-167, 
314.  Empress  of  Morocco,  The,  162- 
163.  Ibrahim,  162  notes,  166,  166 
note.   Love  and  Revenge,  162,  165 

Shadwell,  Thomas,  85,  152,  154,  156- 
158,  162,  163,  165-167,  260,  314. 
Bury  Fair,  157-159,  157  notes,  163. 
Epsom  Wells,  155, 162.  Humourists, 
The,  155,  260.  Libertine,  The,  156, 
162,  166.  Sullen  Lovers,  The,  or 
Impertinents,  The,  154,  155.  Vir- 
tuoso, The,  1 54  note,  155 

Shakespeare,  William,  164,  170,  177, 
181,  184,  229,  247,  248.  Henry  IV, 
Part  I,  131,  131  note.  Henry  VIII, 
79.  Midsummer  Nighfs  Dream,  A, 
181,  181  note.  Romeo  and  fuliet, 
181  note.  Sonnets, Zt^noX.^.  Twelfth 
Night,  229  note 

Shaw,  Mr.,  63 

Sheavyn,  Phoebe,  170  note.  Literary 
Profession  in  the  Elizabethan  Age, 
The,  170  note 

Shirley,  James,  85,  100-105,  107-113, 
119,  152,  167,  314.  Arcadia,  The, 
III.  Ball,  7^<f,  1 1 3.  Bird  in  a  Cage, 
The,  106.  Brothers,  The,  no.  Cap- 
tain Underwit,  102,  103,  103  notes, 
106  note,  108.    Constant  Maid,  T7te^ 


105.     Duke's    Mistress,     The,  "105. 

Gentleman    of    Venice,     The,    no. 

Humorous  Courtier,  The,  105.  Hyde 

Park,  104.  Imposture,  The,  no  note. 

Lady  of  Pleasure,    The,    104,   105. 

Look  to  the  Lady,  108,  i  lo-i  12.  Love 

in  a  Maze,  104.    Love  Tricks,  113. 

Politician,  The,  no.    To  Odelia,ioi. 

Tragedy  of  St.  Albans,  The,  109  note. 

Traitor,  The,  100.    Witty  Fair  One, 

The,  104,  105.     Works,  loi  notes, 

102  note 
Sidney,  Sir  Philip,  90  note,  170,  245 

note.     Apologie  for  Poetrie,  An,  90 

note 
Slingsby,  Sir  Henry,  Diary,  26  note, 

30  note,  36  note 
Smith,  L.  P.,  Life  and  Letters  of  Sir 

Henry  Wotton,  The,  10  notes 
Southampton,  Earl  of,  170 
Southey,  Robert,  175  note.   Common- 
place Book,  175  note 
Spenser,  Edmund,  170,  184 
Stanley,    A.    P.,    307.     Memorials   of 

Westminster  Abbey,  307 
Stationers^    Register,    108,    108    note, 

III 
Stephen,  Sir  Leslie,  Hobbes,  122  note 
Strickland,  Agnes,  Lives  of  the  Queens 

of  England,  19  note 
Strong,   S.  A.,   127,   134,   168.    Cata- 
logue of  Letters  etc.  in  Welbeck  Abbey, 

96  note,    127-128,    127   note,    134 

note,  292  note,  320 
Suckling,  Sir  John,  22,  119,  120,  167 
Suffolk,  Earl  of,  n,  68 
Swift,  Jonathan,  170.    Tale  of  a  Tub, 

The,  170 
Swinburne,  A.  C,  93  note,  107.  Study 

of  Ben  fonson.  A,  93  note 

Talbot,  Edward,  Earl  of  Shrewsbury, 

88 
Talbot,  George,  Earl  of '  Shrewsbury, 

8,  68,  in 
Talbot,  Gilbert,  Earl  of  Shrewsbury, 

8,  II,  12,  T] 
Talbot,  Jane  (nee  Ogle),  Countess  of 

Shrewsbury,  n,  22,  88 
Talbot,  Mary  (nee  Cavendish),  Coimt- 

ess  of  Shrewsbury,  8,  12 
Thorpe,  Benjamin,  Catalogue  ofMss.^ 

119  note 
Throckmorton,  Sir  William,  50 


INDEX 


335 


Tinker,  C.  B.,  294  note.    Salon  and 

English  Letters,  The,  294  note 
Toppe,  Lady,  174,  174  note 
Tuke,  Samuel,  259 

Upham,  A.  H.,  84  note 

Van  Dyck,  Sir  Anthony,  66,  99,  166, 
184 

Van  Helmont,  Jean,  195 

Vaughan,  Robert,  Protectorate  of  Crom- 
well^ The,  122  note,  124  note 

Verney,  Frances,  Memoirs  of  the  Ver- 
ney  Family,  21  note 

Villiers,  George,  first  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham, 13 

Villiers,  George,  second  Duke  of  Buck- 
ingham, 13  note,  51,  55,  64,  76,  76 
note 

Virgil,  247 

Waller,  Edmund,  124,  167,  179,  179 
note,  227  note 

Walpole,  Horace,  Earl  of  Oxford,  3, 6, 
135,  290,  306.  Catalogue  of  Royal 
and  A^oble  Authors,  A,  ed.  Park,  6 
note,  135  note,  144-145  notes, 
172  notes,  268  note,  287  note,  290 
note 

Warburton,  Bishop,  135 

Warburton,  Eliot,  Memoirs  of  Prince 
Rtipert,  35  note,  39-40  notes 

Ward,  Sir  A.  W.,  311,312.  History  of 
English  Dramatic  Literature,  A,  90 
note,  107  note 


Warner,  Mr.,  96,  97 

Warwick,  Sir  Philip,  30,  32,  74  note, 
120.  Memoirs,  30  note,  32-34  notes, 
120  note 

Wentworth,  Thomas,  Earl  of  Straf- 
ford, 14,  15,  17,  19.  Letters,  15  note, 
17  note,  19  note 

Westmoreland,  Earl  of,  173  note 

Whibley,  Charles,  290  note 

Whincop,  Thomas,  145.  TTiecUrical 
Records,  145  note 

Whitelock,  Sir  Bulstrode,  82 

Widdrington,  Lord,  50,  62,  276 

Widmerpoole,  Major,  55  note 

Wilkins,  Dr.,  Bishop  of  Chester,  306, 

307 
Willcock,  John,  Life   of  Sir  Henry 

Vane  the  Younger,  34  note 
William  the  Conqueror,  76 
Williams,  John,  108,  109,  1 1 1 
Willis,  Bishop,  287 
Windebank,  Sir  Francis,  18 
Wishart,  George,  34.    De  Rebus  Aus- 

piciis  Caroli,  34  note 
Wit  Restored,  160 
Wood,  Anthony  k,  7,  46,  100,  102, 1 13. 

At  hence  Oxonienses,  7  note,  46  note, 

100,  198  note,  259  note 
Woodford,  John,  12 
Wotton,  Sir  Henry,  10,  45,  86 

York,  Duchess  of,  296 
York,  Duke  of,  60,  62,  296 
Yorkshire  Diaries  (Surtees  Society), 
28  note 


'     RETURN     CIRCULATION  DEPARTMENT 

TO— ►      202  Main  Library 

LOAN  PERIOD  1 
HOME  USE 

2                       ; 

3 

4 

5                          < 

b'.    ■ 

ALL  BOOKS  MAY  BE  RECALLED  AFTER  7  DAYS 

1-month  l»ans  may  be  renewed  by  calling  6'42-3405 

1-year  loans  may  be  recharged  by  bringing  the  books  to  \t\e  Circulation  Desk 

Renewals  and  recharges  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  due  date 

DUE  AS  STAMPED  BELOW 

,     JUN291984 

lEccnt.  JdllW 

JUN  0  4  19M 

j 

' 

AUIODISCCIRC 

JUN  16 '93 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
^         FORM  NO.  DD6,  60m,  1/83  BERKELEY,  CA  94720 

I  LD  21-100w8,'34 


®s 


Yri48973 


luull 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CAUFORNIA  UBRARY 


